Suffolk County Accident Report
2015 - 2024 Data Analysis
Summary
Over the ten-year span from 2015 to 2024, Suffolk County recorded 364,396 reported traffic crashes — averaging approximately 99 collisions per day across the decade. In that same period, 109,101 crashes involved at least one injury (a total of 155,157 reported injuries), and 1,272 crashes were fatal, resulting in 1,374 deaths.
While total crashes rose 26.5% from 2015 to 2024, the picture is more nuanced: deaths declined 29.3% (from 167 in 2015 to 118 in 2024), and the injury crash share of all collisions dropped from 37.7% to 26.7%. The data suggests that while Suffolk County roads became busier and crash volumes climbed, the severity of outcomes improved meaningfully over the decade — a trend consistent with advances in vehicle safety technology and emergency response.
The most volatile period was 2019–2021. Total crashes reached a decade peak of 42,485 in 2019, then collapsed 24.3% to 32,167 in 2020 — the lowest total in the dataset — before rebounding sharply by 21.4% in 2021. Importantly, 2022 stands out as the deadliest year in the decade: despite recording fewer crashes than 2021, it produced 162 deaths across 152 fatal crashes — a fatality rate of 43.2 deaths per 10,000 crashes, the highest of any year in the dataset.
At the structural level, property-damage crashes surged 49.4% over the decade — nearly double the rate of overall crash growth — while large truck crashes rose 33.3% and bicycle crashes increased 12.8%. Pedestrian crashes declined 21.7%, one of the few categories showing net improvement. Among the county's ten towns, Brookhaven leads in both raw crash volume and total fatalities over the decade, while Southampton posted the sharpest growth rate (54.6%) of any town.
In this report, "injury crashes" refers to crashes with at least one reported injury, and "fatal crashes" refers to crashes with at least one death; total injuries and total fatalities count the people injured or killed.
Key Statistics at a Glance
Total Crashes Over Time (2015–2024)
Line Chart | County-wide crash count by year
Key takeaways
- • Decade peak in 2019: Total crashes reached 42,485 — the highest single-year total in the decade, representing a 31.7% increase above the 2015 baseline of 32,249
- • Pandemic-year collapse: 2020 dropped to 32,167 — nearly identical to 2016 levels — reflecting pandemic-era traffic reduction; the 24.3% single-year decline was the sharpest in the dataset
- • Return to near-peak levels: By 2023, crashes recovered to 40,905 — within 3.7% of the 2019 peak — and held near that level in 2024 (40,801), suggesting crash volumes have plateaued at an elevated level
- • Long-run change: Crashes rose 26.5% from 2015 (32,249) to 2024 (40,801); Suffolk County's population grew approximately 2.7% over the same period, meaning crash growth outpaced population growth by roughly 10:1
Crash Severity Breakdown by Year
Grouped Bar Chart | Property Damage Only vs. Injury Crashes by year
Key takeaways
- • Property damage crashes surged 49.4%: from 19,941 in 2015 to 29,790 in 2024 — nearly double the rate of total crash growth (26.5%); lower-severity collisions are driving the overall increase
- • Injury crashes actually declined: down 10.3% from 12,150 (2015) to 10,902 (2024), despite overall crash volumes growing; a meaningful divergence that reflects improved vehicle safety and/or shifting crash dynamics
- • Injury crash share fell sharply: from 37.7% of all crashes in 2015 to 26.7% in 2024 — a structural shift, not a temporary fluctuation
- • 2020 break visible in both series: both injury and property-damage-only crashes dropped together in 2020, then recovered in tandem through 2021–2023
Fatal Crashes by Year
Bar Chart | Dedicated view of fatal crashes with appropriate scale
Fatal Crashes vs. Total Fatalities
Some crashes result in multiple deaths. The chart above shows crash counts; total fatalities are shown below.
Fatal Crashes by Year:
Total Fatalities:
Fatal-crash insights
- • 2022: the decade's deadliest year. Despite recording fewer total crashes than 2021 (37,475 vs. 39,037), 2022 produced 162 deaths — a fatality rate of 43.2 per 10,000 crashes, the highest of any year in the dataset
- • 2020 fatality-rate paradox: Total crashes fell 24.3% in 2020, yet the fatality rate per 10,000 crashes rose from 27.1 (2019) to 34.8 (2020) — fewer cars on the road appear to have produced faster, more severe collisions
- • 2015 held the highest raw fatal crash count (158 fatal crashes, 167 deaths) — the decade began with its most lethal year by both measures, then improved substantially through 2020
- • 2024: promising recovery. At 109 fatal crashes and 118 deaths, 2024 is the second-lowest fatality year of the decade, suggesting a meaningful safety improvement after the 2021–2023 spike
Town-by-Town Comparison
Suffolk County comprises ten towns — Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southampton, and Southold. Together these towns account for approximately 93% of all county crashes reported in the ITSMR dataset. The charts below compare total crash volumes (2015 vs. 2024 endpoints), fatal crash trends over time, and decade-total fatalities across all ten towns.
Total Crashes by Town (2015 vs. 2024)
Grouped Bar Chart | First and last year of the decade compared for each town
Key takeaways
- • Brookhaven dominates by volume: 8,497 crashes in 2015 rising to 11,520 in 2024 (35.6%) — the largest town in New York State by land area, with a road network that includes many high-speed arterials and rural roads
- • Southampton: steepest growth rate. Crashes rose from 1,506 to 2,329 — a 54.6% increase, the highest of any town — likely reflecting increased East End traffic from seasonal and second-home use
- • Islip and Huntington showed consistent growth: Islip rose 39.5% (6,578 → 9,177) and Huntington rose 16.1% (4,297 → 4,988) — both are densely populated western Suffolk towns with major commercial corridors
- • Southold: the exception. The only town to record a slight decline (−3.7%), from 564 crashes in 2015 to 543 in 2024 — potentially reflecting stable or contracting traffic volumes on the North Fork
Fatal Crashes by Town Over Time (2015–2024)
Multi-Line Chart | Annual fatal crash counts for the five highest-volume towns
Town trend insights
- • Brookhaven: highest volume, high volatility. Fatal crashes ranged from 27 (2024) to 55 (2015) — a remarkable 51% decline from the decade's first to last year, though the intervening years show persistent elevated counts
- • Islip: unusual stability. Fatal crashes ranged from 21 to 34, with no single year dramatically outpacing the others — a relatively consistent fatality profile over the decade
- • Huntington: 2018 spike. Fatal crashes jumped to 24 in 2018 — nearly double any other year in that town's dataset — before returning to single-digit levels by 2019 and 2024
- • Babylon: improving trend. Fatal crashes declined from 23 (2015) to 15 (2024), with most recent years clustered in the 11–19 range — a modest but directionally positive shift
Fatal Crashes by Town (2015–2024 Decade Total)
Horizontal Bar Chart | Decade totals for all 10 tracked towns
Fatality concentration insights
- • Brookhaven: 408 fatal crashes — 34.2% of all tracked-town fatalities. Its combination of highest crash volume and highest absolute fatality count reflects both its size and the characteristics of its road network
- • Top three towns account for 71.5%: Brookhaven (408), Islip (289), and Babylon (155) together total 852 of the 1,192 fatal crashes attributed to Suffolk's ten towns over the decade
- • Huntington (124) shows a lower relative fatality burden than its crash volume might suggest — its estimated fatality rate of 2.67 per 1,000 crashes is the lowest of the larger towns, possibly reflecting different road speed environments
- • East End towns warrant context: Southampton (66), Riverhead (43), East Hampton (15), and Southold (20) have smaller absolute counts but relatively elevated per-crash fatality rates, consistent with high-speed rural road environments
Crash Type Analysis
Beyond total crash counts, the type of road user involved shapes both the likelihood and severity of harm. The following charts examine pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, and large-truck crashes over the decade, along with a town-by-town comparison of estimated fatality rates.
Crash Type Breakdown
Pie Chart | Distribution by road-user type, 2015–2024 totals
High-risk road users
Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists) represent 3.4% of all crashes yet carry a disproportionate share of fatal outcomes:
- • Pedestrians: 5,162 crashes (1.4%) — highest-vulnerability category; pedestrian crashes declined 21.7% over the decade (644 → 504)
- • Motorcycles: 3,831 crashes (1.1%) — peaked in 2015 (441) and showed relative stability through the decade
- • Bicycles: 3,463 crashes (0.9%) — rose 12.8% from 368 (2015) to 415 (2024), reversing a 2016–2020 downward trend
- • Vulnerable road users (combined): 12,456 crashes (3.4%)
- • Large Trucks: 14,077 crashes (3.9%) — up 33.3% over the decade; the largest non-passenger category by volume
- • Passenger Vehicles & Other: 337,863 crashes (92.7%)
Crash Type Trends Over Time
Multi-Line Chart | Year-by-year trends for vulnerable road users and large trucks
Trend insights
- • Large-truck crashes rose 33.3% over the decade: from 1,143 (2015) to a peak of 1,666 (2019), then dropped in 2020, surged again in 2021 (1,651), and settled in the 1,500–1,550 range through 2022–2024 — closely tracking overall economic activity and freight demand
- • Pedestrian crashes: net improvement, uneven path. Down from 644 (2015) to a trough of 381 (2020) — likely reflecting reduced pedestrian exposure during the pandemic — then partially recovering to 504 (2024); the 2024 level is still 21.7% below 2015
- • Bicycle crashes reversed their downward trend. After falling to a decade low of 302 in 2018, bicycle crashes rebounded to 415 in 2024 — exceeding 2015 levels by 12.8%; consistent with increased cycling adoption across Long Island
- • Motorcycle crashes show relative stability with a slight upward drift: peaked at 441 in 2015, dipped to 348 in 2018, and trended back toward 409 by 2023 before a modest decline to 397 in 2024
Estimated Fatality Rate by Town (per 1,000 Crashes)
Bar Chart | Approximate fatal crashes per 1,000 total crashes, by town
Key insights
Methodology note: Rates are estimated using decade-total fatal crashes divided by an approximated decade-total crash count (average of 2015 and 2024 endpoints × 10), due to the absence of complete annual town-level crash totals in the source dataset. Shelter Island's rate reflects a very small sample (1 fatal crash) and should be interpreted with caution.
- • Brookhaven leads with ~4.08 per 1,000 crashes — the highest estimated rate among the larger towns, consistent with its extensive rural and semi-rural road network where higher-speed collisions are more common
- • East Hampton (~3.85) and Islip (~3.67) rank second and third; East Hampton's elevated rate relative to its crash volume points to the severity profile of rural East End roads
- • Huntington stands out for its low rate (~2.67) — the lowest among the larger towns by a meaningful margin, a potential indicator of road design, speed management, or traffic mix differences compared to Brookhaven and Islip
- • The East End cluster (Southampton, Riverhead, Southold, East Hampton) consistently shows fatality rates in the 3.4–3.9 range — elevated relative to western Suffolk, reflecting the prevalence of high-speed two-lane rural roads
Year-Over-Year Percentage Change
Column Chart | % change in total crashes from previous year
Key insights
- • Consecutive growth years defined 2018–2019: crashes rose 18.6% in 2018 and another 17.9% in 2019 — two consecutive double-digit increases that drove the decade peak; no other two-year growth period comes close
- • 2020 was the decade's largest single-year drop: −24.3%, erasing nearly all of the 2018–2019 gains in a single year; the 2021 rebound of 21.4% was nearly symmetrical, confirming that 2020 was a structural outlier
- • Post-2021 moderation: the 2022–2024 range spans −4.0% to +9.2%, suggesting crash volumes have settled into a stable, elevated plateau following the pandemic-driven distortion
- • 2024 essentially flat (−0.25%): the decade closed at near-equilibrium — the smallest year-over-year change of the dataset, consistent with a stabilization around 40,000–41,000 annual crashes
Download Charts
Each chart is available as an individual PNG download using the button directly below it. To download all ten charts at once, use the button below. All images include a watermark and source attribution.
Methodology & Data Sources
All statistics and charts on this page are based on data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR) Traffic Safety Statistical Repository (TSSR). We used TSSR's Suffolk County tables for years 2015 through 2024 and compiled totals by year, crash severity, road-user type, and town (where available) to present a descriptive overview of long-run trends.
This report is intended to be educational and data-driven. It summarizes reported crashes and outcomes and does not attempt to explain why changes occurred. Year-to-year shifts can reflect many factors, including changes in travel patterns, enforcement, reporting, roadway conditions, and vehicle and driver behavior. This analysis is a descriptive overview of publicly available crash statistics. It does not attempt to determine causation or assign fault for individual incidents.
Notes and limitations: "Crashes," "injury crashes," "injuries," "fatal crashes," and "fatalities" are reported as defined in TSSR. Town totals shown on this page cover the ten towns of Suffolk County as included in the TSSR municipality breakdown and represent approximately 90–93% of the county total in any given year; remaining crashes may occur in incorporated villages or on state-administered roads not attributed to a specific town in the source data. Counts represent reported incidents and may be affected by reporting practices and data updates. Annual crash totals at the town level were not available for all years in the ITSMR TSSR dataset used for this report; town-level crash comparisons (Charts 3) reflect 2015 and 2024 endpoint values, while town-level fatal crash data (Charts 3B and 3C) reflects decade-aggregated counts as reported for all ten years. Fatality rates per 1,000 crashes by town (Chart 5) are estimates based on the average of 2015 and 2024 crash endpoints multiplied by ten as a proxy for decade totals. Shelter Island's estimated rate is based on a very small sample (1 fatal crash) and should not be used for comparative conclusions.
Data Sources:
- ITSMR Traffic Safety Statistical Repository (TSSR): https://www.itsmr.org/traffic-safety-statistical-repository/ (accessed March 4, 2026)
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