Shirley, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law

Shirley is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, with 26,360 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 44 fatal crashes that killed 44 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 17 of them on foot. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) accounted for more of those deaths (27) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 33.2 minutes each way.

Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method

Shirley at a glance

Status
Hamlet (unincorporated; census-designated place)
Town
Brookhaven
County
Suffolk County
Population (2020 Census)
26,360[C]
Housing units (2020)
8,782
Land area
11.31 sq mi (plus 0.85 sq mi of water)
Density
2,330 people per sq mi
Average commute
33.2 minutes[B]
Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
44[A]
ZIP Code
11967
Legal status
Unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County[1]
Police
Suffolk County Police Department, Seventh Precinct[1]
Prior written notice law
Town of Brookhaven Code Chapter 84, § 84-1 (adopted 1987)[2]
State road
Sunrise Highway (NY 27)[4]
Census geography
Shirley CDP · GEOID 3667070 · GNIS 2390296
Coordinates
40.7936°N, 72.8759°W

Hamlets in New York have no legal boundary or government of their own. Figures here use the Census Bureau's census-designated place, the standard statistical outline for the community; local usage of the name can be wider or narrower.

Fatal crashes in Shirley, 2010–2024

From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 44 people died in 44 crashes on public roads inside Shirley, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 17 of those deaths (39%). The deadliest year was 2015, with 6 deaths.

Fatal crashes
44
People killed
44
Pedestrians
17
Bicyclists
3
Motorcyclists
3
Vehicle occupants
21
Traffic deaths in Shirley by year, 2010–2024
2 ’10 4 ’11 1 ’12 2 ’13 2 ’14 6 ’15 1 ’16 2 ’17 2 ’18 2 ’19 3 ’20 5 ’21 2 ’22 5 ’23 5 ’24

2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.

View the chart as a table
YearFatal crashesDeaths
201022
201144
201211
201322
201422
201566
201611
201722
201822
201922
202033
202155
202222
202355
202455

Roads where people died

RoadCrashesDeaths
William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 27 27
Montauk Highway (NY 27A / CR 80 / CR 85) 7 7
Sunrise Highway (NY 27) 2 2
Long Island Expressway (I-495) 1 1
Floyd Rd N 1 1
Havenwood Dr E 1 1
Margin Dr W 1 1
Maple Ave 1 1

Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.

When and where

  • Of the 44 crashes with a recorded time, 17 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 11 between 4 and 8 p.m., 12 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 4 between 6 and 10 a.m.
  • 48% happened in darkness.
  • 1 of the 44 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 43 were on arterials and local streets.
  • In at least 5 crashes, a driver had a reported blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. This counts known test results only; NHTSA's official alcohol estimates, which impute untested drivers, are higher.

Who owns the roads where they happened (2015–2024)

FARS has recorded the owner of the roadway since 2015. Of the 33 fatal crashes in Shirley since then:

  • County roads 24 (73%)
  • Town roads 5 (15%)
  • State highways 4 (12%)

Ownership matters in New York because claims against a county, town, city or village generally require a notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e), while claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims under Court of Claims Act § 10. This is general information, not legal advice.

Rate: 11.1 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, against 9.1 for Suffolk County. This is a resident-based rate, not a measure of how risky the roads are to drive: crashes are counted where they happen, not where the people involved live, so a small community crossed by a major highway shows a high rate.

The 15 most recent fatal crashes

DateTimeRoadDeathsWho diedLight
* 9 p.m. Montauk Highway (NY 27A / CR 80 / CR 85) at Garden Pl 1 Vehicle occupant dark
* 5 p.m. Long Island Expressway (I-495) 1 Motorcyclist dark
* 8 p.m. Montauk Highway (NY 27A / CR 80 / CR 85) at Revilo Ave 1 Vehicle occupant dark
* 10 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
* 12 p.m. Sunrise Highway (NY 27) 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
7 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) at Adobe Dr 1 Bicyclist dark
7 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
11 p.m. Montauk Highway (NY 27A / CR 80 / CR 85) 1 Pedestrian dark
8 p.m. Montauk Highway (NY 27A / CR 80 / CR 85) at Camp Upton Rd 1 Pedestrian dark
10 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Pedestrian dark
9 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Pedestrian dark
6 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Vehicle occupant dark
8 a.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
6 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) at Roberts Rd 1 Pedestrian dark
11 p.m. William Floyd Parkway (CR 46) at Victory Ave 1 Pedestrian dark

FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 44 records (CSV) · How this was compiled

Recent Shirley Incident Reports

Pedestrian Seriously Hurt After SUV Strike on Montauk Highway in Shirley

Pedestrian Seriously Hurt After SUV Strike on Montauk Highway in Shirley. August 29, 2026.

Leydi Molina Flores Arrested at Shirley's V&W Parkway Deli in Underage Alcohol Sting

Miguel Perez, 68, of Shirley Arrested for Stealing License Plate Readers from Moriches-Middle Island Road

TWA Flight 800 Families Mark 30 Years Since Crash Off Long Island's Shirley Coast

Mario Auer of Shirley Charged in 100-MPH Drug-Impaired Sunrise Highway Crash in Bayport

Mario Auer of Shirley Charged in 100-MPH Drug-Impaired Sunrise Highway Crash in Bayport. June 29, 2026.

Mario Auer of Shirley Arrested for Drugged Driving After 100-MPH Sunrise Highway Crash in Bayport

Mario Auer of Shirley Arrested for Drugged Driving After 100-MPH Sunrise Highway. June 29, 2026.

Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.

All reported crashes in the Town of Brookhaven, 2021–2024

New York's crash file codes each crash to a town, city or village — never to a hamlet — so the finest official count that covers Shirley is for the Town of Brookhaven, which contains it. Police reported 44,155 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 30.2 a day. 11,428 (25.9%) injured someone and 172 were fatal. [D]

Police-reported crashes, Town of Brookhaven
2021202220232024Total
10,66310,23411,73911,51944,155
Injury crashes
11,428
Fatal crashes
172
Struck a pedestrian
445
Struck a bicyclist
390
Struck a deer
599

Counts are crashes, not people. The municipality is entered by the reporting police agency, and coding is less consistent for small villages, so compare places with care.

How Shirley gets to work

Shirley commuters travel an average of 33.2 minutes each way, 2.1 minutes longer than the Suffolk County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 77.1% of workers drive alone. [B]

Commuting and vehicle access, 2020–2024 (American Community Survey 5-year estimates)
Measure Shirley Suffolk County New York State United States
Average one-way commute 33.2 min ±4.7 31.1 min 32.6 min 26.4 min
Commute 60 minutes or longer 14.2% ±2.8 14.1% 16.8% 8.6%
Commute under 15 minutes 14.2% ±2.4 22.8% 20.5% 26%
Drive alone 77.1% ±2.7 72.1% 48.8% 68.8%
Carpool 12.1% ±3.2 7.5% 6.3% 8.5%
Commuter rail (LIRR) 1.2% ±0.7 † 3.2% 1.8% 0.3%
Bus 0.1% ±0.2 † 0.6% 5.1% 1.5%
Walk 0.6% ±0.6 † 1.4% 5.6% 2.4%
Work from home 6.5% ±2 12% 14.9% 15.1%
Leave home before 6 a.m. 17.4% ±3.1 12% 10.6% 14.4%
Households with no vehicle 4% ±1.5 5.1% 29.2% 8.4%
Households with three or more vehicles 36% ±4.8 28.8% 11.8% 21.9%

Survey estimates for 13,182 workers aged 16 and over; ± values are 90% margins of error. † Small sample — the margin of error is large relative to the estimate, so treat the figure as indicative only. Travel-time rows exclude people who work from home.

Notable facts about Shirley

  • A New York State memorial-bridge listing names the overpass where County Road 46 (William Floyd Parkway) crosses Sunrise Highway near Shirley the "Cpl. Paulo Marko Pacificador Memorial Bridge."[3]
  • The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the 1996 TWA Flight 800 crash near East Moriches — close to Shirley and Smith Point — was not adopted until August 23, 2000, more than four years after the accident.[5]
  • The William Floyd Estate, reached from Shirley's area via the William Floyd Parkway, is signed from two different expressway exits: LIE Exit 68 and Sunrise Highway Exit 58S.[6]

How the roads got here

William Floyd Parkway, County Road 46, is a Suffolk County road; the state's own touring-route documentation identifies a memorial bridge — the "Cpl. Paulo Marko Pacificador Memorial Bridge" — at the point where "CR 46 (William Floyd Parkway)" crosses NY 27 (Sunrise Highway) in the hamlet of Brookhaven, just west of Shirley.[3] The National Park Service directs visitors to the William Floyd Estate, further south on the same parkway, by way of "Exit 68 from the Long Island Expressway (I-495) or Exit 58S from Sunrise Highway (NY-27E) onto the William Floyd Parkway (Route 46)," confirming both expressway connections into the corridor that runs through Shirley.[6]

Sunrise Highway, NY 27, is described in the state's touring-route document as a single continuous route from Brooklyn to Montauk Point, without an intervening terminus in this stretch of Brookhaven's south shore.[4]

Law and legal history

Smith Point County Park, near Shirley, sits close to the site where Trans World Airlines Flight 800 broke apart in flight and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 1996, an accident the National Transportation Safety Board investigated as "In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, Boeing 747-131, N93119, Near East Moriches, New York," adopting its final report on August 23, 2000.[5]

Government, courts and policing

Shirley has no government of its own; it is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Brookhaven. The Suffolk County Police Department's Seventh Precinct describes its own territory as covering "the eastern most sections of the Town of Brookhaven to the Riverhead and Southampton Town lines," which by that description would include Shirley, although the precinct's page does not name Shirley individually.[1]

Civil claims against the Town of Brookhaven over a defective or dangerous street, highway, bridge, culvert or crosswalk are governed by Town of Brookhaven Code Chapter 84, "Notice of Defective or Dangerous Conditions," adopted by the Town Board on June 16, 1987 (Local Law No. 7-1987) and most recently amended March 10, 2016. Section 84-1 provides that "[n]o civil action shall be commenced against the Town of Brookhaven or the Superintendent of Highways for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of the defective, out-of-repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition of any highway, street, bridge, culvert, or crosswalk or pedestrian walkway open to the public" unless written notice was first given to the Town Clerk or Superintendent of Highways.[2]

Higher-level civil and criminal matters from Brookhaven hamlets are handled within the Suffolk County court system, whose 10th Judicial District administrative offices are at 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip.[8]

Shirley timeline

  1. TWA Flight 800. Trans World Airlines Flight 800 broke up in flight and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, a few miles from Shirley and Smith Point.[5]
  2. NTSB final report adopted. The National Transportation Safety Board adopted its final accident report on the crash.[5]

Major roads in Shirley

RoadRouteMaintained byIn Shirley
Sunrise Highway [4] NY 27 New York State runs through the hamlet
William Floyd Parkway [3][6] CR 46 Suffolk County runs through the hamlet, linking the LIE and Sunrise Highway to Smith Point

Emergency Resources

Hospitals

See county-level hospital listings.

Police

  • Suffolk County Police Department, Seventh Precinct — (631) 852-8775 (Precinct's own page states it covers 'the eastern most sections of the Town of Brookhaven to the Riverhead and Southampton Town lines'; it does not publish a street address.)

Courts

  • Suffolk County 10th Judicial District Administrative Office — 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip, NY 11722 — 631-208-5600

Local Driver Services in Shirley

Practical resources for Shirley drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.

Gas Prices Cheapest Gas in Shirley Updated daily from station feeds Construction Active Long Island Construction Live work-zone directory Live Map Real-time Long Island Traffic Accidents, closures, and weather

Safety Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do after a car accident in Shirley, NY?

Move to safety and call 911 immediately, then document the scene with photos and exchange insurance and contact information with everyone involved. File a police report with SCPD and notify your insurer promptly. New York is a no-fault state, so your own PIP coverage pays initial medical costs regardless of fault, and you have just 30 days to file the NF-2 application.

Which roads are most dangerous in Shirley?

Sunrise Highway and William Floyd Parkway carry the heaviest traffic through Shirley and account for most of the reported crashes we track. The William Floyd Parkway at Sunrise Highway — one of eastern Brookhaven’s busiest interchanges. Commercial driveways, signalized intersections, and turning movements along these corridors drive the local crash mix.

How current are these Shirley accident reports?

Long Island Traffic adds new reports every 2–4 hours from 511NY, NYS Police Troop L, SCPD, and verified local news. Scroll up for the latest Shirley and Suffolk County incidents, and check the "Dangerous Roads" section for corridor-level breakdowns.

Do I need a lawyer after a Shirley accident?

If you suffered serious injuries, significant property damage, or the other driver was uninsured, consulting a Suffolk County personal injury attorney is strongly recommended. Many firms offer free consultations and work on contingency. See our free guides at /know-your-rights/car-accidents/ and /know-your-rights/insurance-claims/.

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Data: machine-readable fact sheet (JSON) · fatal-crash records (CSV) · methodology and limits

References

Datasets

  1. [A] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010–2024 national files. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Crashes on public trafficways in which a person died within 30 days. No personal identifiers. Placed by reported coordinates into 2020 Census boundaries.
  2. [B] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, tables B08303, B08013, B08301, B08302, B08201, B19013, B01002. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Survey estimates with 90% margins of error. lowReliability = coefficient of variation above 30%.
  3. [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  4. [D] New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Crashes — Case Information: Four Year Window. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Police-reported crashes coded to a town, city or village by the reporting agency. Hamlets are not coded; hamlet pages show the parent town.

Sources for history, roads and law

  1. [1] Suffolk County Police Department. Seventh Precinct (2026). Government record.
  2. [2] Town of Brookhaven (ecode360.com). Chapter 84, Notice of Defective or Dangerous Conditions (2026). Government record.
  3. [3] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycle Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (2017). Government record.
  4. [4] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes... in New York State (NY 27 entry) (2017). Government record.
  5. [5] National Transportation Safety Board. In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, Boeing 747-131, N93119, Near East Moriches, New York, July 17, 1996 (NTSB/AAR-00/03) (2000). Government record.
  6. [6] National Park Service, Fire Island National Seashore. Plan Your Visit: William Floyd Estate (2026). Government record.
  7. [8] New York State Unified Court System (nycourts.gov). 10th Judicial District – Suffolk County (2026). Court decision.

Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.