Long Island had its deadliest day on the roads in 2026

Wednesday was the deadliest day so far in 2026 on Long Island’s roadways — and the deadliest in more than four months, according to an analysis of Newsday’s online fatality tracker.

Three people died and four more were treated at hospitals for serious injuries after separate crashes in Suffolk, the county police department has said.

Those killed included a 48-year-old driver who lost control of his vehicle in East Moriches; a 39-year-old motorcyclist struck by a turning driver in Bohemia; and a 21-year-old pedestrian who was struck in Brentwood by a driver.

The fatalities Wednesday brought the total crash deaths on Long Island for 2026 among pedestrians, cyclists and people riding in motor vehicles to 40.

Newsday has reported that Long Island’s traffic fatality rate is higher than the state average.

A recent Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes on Long Island have killed over 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023, as well as seriously injuring over 16,000 people.

But, up until Wednesday, while motor vehicle fatalities took place on the Island every few days so far this year, more than one fatality took place on just six days, and on no day had there been more than two roadway deaths.

“To have three fatalities in a 24-hour period is highly unusual in a place like Suffolk County, even though Suffolk County does have pretty high rates,” said Charles DiMaggio, a professor of surgery and population health at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine who studies injury epidemiology.

DiMaggio said it’s hard to say whether the spike represents anything unusual or is just a statistical anomaly.

Before Wednesday, Dec. 14 had been the most recent deadliest day on the Island’s roadways, with crashes in Massapequa, North Valley Stream, Lynbrook and North Bellmore, according to the fatality tracker, which tabulates crashes that kill people and are disclosed by a police force on the Island.

In other peer nations, such as in Europe, better infrastructure, stronger enforcement, smaller vehicles and stricter driving tests mean fewer roadway fatalities, according to reports published by the European Union.

For Daniel Flanzig, a board member of the Long Island-based nonprofit New York Coalition for Transportation Safety, improvements to roadway safety and enforcement of traffic laws aren’t happening enough.

“It’s obvious that despite everybody’s call for change, things are not moving in the right direction fast enough on Long Island,” said Flanzig.

Flanzig cited a crash on Wednesday that did not result in death — but left an 84-year-old Lindenhurst woman hospitalized — after an unlicensed driver, who was later charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, struck her as she tried to cross Montauk Highway in Copiague, according to the police department.

“That means that the police had multiple opportunities to get that driver off the road,” Flanzig said, citing the charge issued after the crash. “  ‘Aggravated’ means multiple.”

Flanzig has urged that Long Island’s roadways be put on a “diet,” such as narrowing lanes, and passing so-called “super speeder” legislation that would require the installation of limiting devices on vehicles belonging to drivers who rack up a high number of speeding tickets.

AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair Jr. said that since the pandemic, there has been a documented uptick of bad driving, such as speeding, being distracted and not wearing a seat belt.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.