Wading River, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law
Wading River is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, with 7,731 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 10 fatal crashes that killed 10 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 2 of them on foot. Northern Boulevard / Route 25A accounted for more of those deaths (5) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 32.7 minutes each way.
Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method
Wading River at a glance
- Status
- Hamlet (unincorporated; census-designated place)
- Town
- Riverhead
- County
- Suffolk County
- Population (2020 Census)
- 7,731[C]
- Housing units (2020)
- 3,223
- Land area
- 9.78 sq mi (plus 2.73 sq mi of water)
- Density
- 790 people per sq mi
- Average commute
- 32.7 minutes[B]
- Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
- 10[A]
- ZIP Code
- 11792
- Legal status
- Unincorporated hamlet, mainly within the Town of Riverhead[1]
- Police
- Town of Riverhead Police Department (the Town has its own department; it is not an SCPD-patrolled area)[2]
- Court
- Riverhead Town Justice Court, 210 Howell Avenue, Riverhead[3]
- Prior-written-notice law
- Town of Riverhead Code Chapter 109, § 109-2 ("Civil Claims") — written notice of a defect must be filed with the Town Clerk at least 15 calendar days before the claim arises[4]
- Fire protection
- Wading River Fire Department, 1503 North Country Road, Wading River, NY 11792[8]
- State park
- Wildwood State Park, 790 Hulse Landing Road — 600 acres of undeveloped hardwood forest on a bluff over Long Island Sound[1]
- Nearest hospitals
- Peconic Bay Medical Center, Riverhead (Level III adult trauma center); Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson[9][10][11]
- Census geography
- Wading River CDP · GEOID 3677772 · GNIS 2390442
- Coordinates
- 40.9539°N, 72.8170°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 Wading River, 2010–2024
From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 10 people died in 10 crashes on public roads inside Wading River, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 2 of those deaths (20%). The deadliest year was 2012, with 2 deaths.
- Fatal crashes
- 10
- People killed
- 10
- Pedestrians
- 2
- Bicyclists
- 1
- Motorcyclists
- 1
- Vehicle occupants
- 6
2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.
View the chart as a table
| Year | Fatal crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 1 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 |
Roads where people died
| Road | Crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Boulevard / Route 25A | 5 | 5 |
| Middle Country Road (NY 25) | 4 | 4 |
| N Wading River Rd | 1 | 1 |
Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.
When and where
- Of the 10 crashes with a recorded time, 1 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 2 between 4 and 8 p.m., 5 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 2 between 6 and 10 a.m.
- 20% happened in darkness.
- 0 of the 10 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 10 were on arterials and local streets.
Who owns the roads where they happened (2015–2024)
FARS has recorded the owner of the roadway since 2015. Of the 4 fatal crashes in Wading River since then:
- State highways 4 (100%)
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: 8.6 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. With 7,731 residents, a single crash moves Wading River's rate substantially.
Every fatal crash on record
| Date | Time | Road | Deaths | Who died | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. | Northern Boulevard / Route 25A at Wading River Manor Rd | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 6 a.m. | Middle Country Road (NY 25) at Burman Blvd | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dawn | |
| 2 p.m. | Northern Boulevard / Route 25A | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 5 p.m. | Northern Boulevard / Route 25A at Little Leaf Ct | 1 | Motorcyclist | dusk | |
| 3 p.m. | Northern Boulevard / Route 25A at Dogwood Dr | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 5 p.m. | Middle Country Road (NY 25) at Little Leaf Ct | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 10 a.m. | Middle Country Road (NY 25) at Northern Boulevard / Route 25A | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 1 p.m. | Middle Country Road (NY 25) | 1 | Bicyclist | daylight | |
| 3 p.m. | Northern Boulevard / Route 25A | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 9 p.m. | N Wading River Rd | 1 | Pedestrian | dark |
FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 10 records (CSV) · How this was compiled
Recent Wading River Incident Reports
Woman, 58, Killed After Vehicle Overturns on Wading River Manor Road in Calverton; Passenger Hospitalized With Serious Injuries
A 58-year-old woman died Saturday night after her vehicle overturned on Wading River Manor Road in the Wading River area, ejecting her from the vehicle; she was pronounced dead at the scene, Riverhead Town Police said. A 57-year-old male passenger was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center with serious injuries and was still receiving treatment as of reporting.
Minor Crash Blocks Left Shoulder on Westbound I-495 in Suffolk County
Minor Crash Blocks Left Shoulder on Westbound I-495 in Suffolk County. in wading river. July 16, 2026.
Suffolk Woman Pleads Guilty After Crash That Left Grandmother Dead, Mom Injured, With Toddler In Car: DA
Suffolk Woman Pleads Guilty After Crash That Left Grandmother Dead, Mom Injured, With Toddler In Car: DA. Suffolk County, Long Island.
Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.
All reported crashes in the Town of Riverhead, 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 Wading River is for the Town of Riverhead, which contains it. Police reported 4,994 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 3.4 a day. 1,381 (27.7%) injured someone and 23 were fatal. [D]
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,135 | 1,065 | 1,332 | 1,462 | 4,994 |
- Injury crashes
- 1,381
- Fatal crashes
- 23
- Struck a pedestrian
- 59
- Struck a bicyclist
- 54
- Struck a deer
- 351
Deer collisions are 7% of all reported crashes here. 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 Wading River gets to work
Wading River commuters travel an average of 32.7 minutes each way, 1.6 minutes longer than the Suffolk County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 70.1% of workers drive alone. [B]
| Measure | Wading River | Suffolk County | New York State | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average one-way commute | 32.7 min ±7.7 | 31.1 min | 32.6 min | 26.4 min |
| Commute 60 minutes or longer | 11.6% ±3.7 | 14.1% | 16.8% | 8.6% |
| Commute under 15 minutes | 3% ±2.3 † | 22.8% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Drive alone | 70.1% ±8.4 | 72.1% | 48.8% | 68.8% |
| Carpool | 10.7% ±4.7 | 7.5% | 6.3% | 8.5% |
| Commuter rail (LIRR) | 1.2% ±1.3 † | 3.2% | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| Bus | 0% ±0.5 † | 0.6% | 5.1% | 1.5% |
| Walk | 0% ±0.2 † | 1.4% | 5.6% | 2.4% |
| Work from home | 17% ±4.8 | 12% | 14.9% | 15.1% |
| Leave home before 6 a.m. | 8.1% ±4 † | 12% | 10.6% | 14.4% |
| Households with no vehicle | 0.7% ±1.1 † | 5.1% | 29.2% | 8.4% |
| Households with three or more vehicles | 32.7% ±7.8 | 28.8% | 11.8% | 21.9% |
Survey estimates for 4,146 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 Wading River
- Wildwood State Park in Wading River comprises 600 acres of undeveloped hardwood forest on a bluff over Long Island Sound.[1]
- NYSDOT's own statewide list of touring routes traces NY Route 25A only as far east as its junction with NY Route 25 near Rocky Point — it does not separately number the road continuing east through Wading River.[5]
- Suffolk County's road inventory does not list Sound Avenue or the road called "Wading River-Manor Road" among its numbered county roads, consistent with both being Town of Riverhead highways.[6]
History
The hamlet's Sound-side bluffs are now largely preserved as Wildwood State Park, which the state parks system describes as "600 acres of undeveloped hardwood forest terminating on the high bluff overlooking Long Island Sound," reached from Hulse Landing Road.[1]
How the roads got here
NYSDOT's own statewide description of NY Route 25A traces it east from the Nassau County line through Roslyn, Huntington, Kings Park, Smithtown, Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station, then "on Hallock Avenue, Rocky Point, on Parker Avenue (NY 25)" — that is, the state's numbered touring route ends at its junction with NY 25 in the Rocky Point area.[5]
Suffolk County's road inventory lists County Road 54 (Hulse Landing Road/Wildwood Road) running from Sound Avenue to North Wading River Road — the county highway that reaches Wildwood State Park.[6]
NY Route 25 is a state highway, but NYSDOT's route description lists it running from Coram directly to Riverhead without naming Wading River or Calverton, indicating Route 25 passes to the south of Wading River hamlet (through the Calverton area) rather than through the hamlet center itself.[5]
Government, courts and policing
Wading River has no government of its own. For the part of the hamlet within the Town of Riverhead, the Town of Riverhead Police Department — the same town-wide department headquartered at 210 Howell Avenue that serves the rest of the town — is the police agency of record, not the Suffolk County Police Department; SCPD's own description of its Seventh Precinct states that precinct's territory runs only "to the Riverhead and Southampton Town lines," i.e., up to, not into, the Town of Riverhead.[2][12] Traffic, criminal, parking, landlord-tenant, small-claims and civil matters from this part of the hamlet go to the Riverhead Town Justice Court at 210 Howell Avenue.[3]
Like the rest of the Town of Riverhead, a civil suit over a defective town road, sidewalk or other town-owned condition in Wading River requires that written notice first be filed with the Town Clerk at least 15 calendar days before the incident, under TownCode Chapter 109, § 109-2.[4]
Fire protection comes from the volunteer Wading River Fire Department, headquartered at 1503 North Country Road.[8]
Landmarks and listed places
- Wildwood State Park — New York State park, 600 acres on a bluff over Long Island Sound; entrance at 790 Hulse Landing Road[1]
Major roads in Wading River
| Road | Route | Maintained by | In Wading River |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Country Road (state-numbered stretch ends near Rocky Point) [5] | NY 25A (west of Rocky Point); unconfirmed route number east of Rocky Point through Wading River | New York State (confirmed only as far east as its junction with NY 25 near Rocky Point per NYSDOT) | — |
| Hulse Landing Road / Wildwood Road [6] | Suffolk CR 54 | Suffolk County | runs from Sound Avenue to North Wading River Road, serving Wildwood State Park |
| Sound Avenue [6] | unnumbered | not found among Suffolk County's numbered roads; presumed Town of Riverhead highway (unconfirmed) | runs along the hamlet's inland/southern side |
| NY Route 25 (Main Road) [5] | NY 25 | New York State | passes south of the hamlet, through Calverton, rather than through the hamlet center |
Emergency Resources
Hospitals
- Peconic Bay Medical Center (Northwell Health) — 1 Heroes Way, Riverhead, NY 11901 — (631) 548-6000 (Level III adult trauma center on the New York State Department of Health list; within the same Town of Riverhead.)
- Mather Hospital — 75 North Country Road, Port Jefferson, NY 11777 — (631) 473-1320 (Nearest hospital along North Country Road to the west; no trauma-center designation confirmed for it.)
Police
- Town of Riverhead Police Department — 210 Howell Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901 — (631) 727-4500 (Town-wide department; serves the Riverhead portion of Wading River. Emergencies: 911.)
Courts
- Riverhead Town Justice Court — 210 Howell Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901 — (631) 727-3200 (Hears traffic, criminal, parking, landlord-tenant, small-claims and civil matters arising in the Town of Riverhead, including Wading River.)
Local Driver Services in Wading River
Practical resources for Wading River drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.
Safety Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after a car accident in Wading River, 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 Wading River?
Route 25A and Sound Avenue carry the heaviest traffic through Wading River and account for most of the reported crashes we track. The Route 25A / Sound Avenue corridor through the hamlet center. Commercial driveways, signalized intersections, and turning movements along these corridors drive the local crash mix.
How current are these Wading River 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 Wading River and Suffolk County incidents, and check the "Dangerous Roads" section for corridor-level breakdowns.
Do I need a lawyer after a Wading River 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
- [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.
- [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%.
- [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
- [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] New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Wildwood State Park (2026). Government record.
- [2] Town of Riverhead. Police Department (2026). Government record.
- [3] Town of Riverhead. Justice Court (2026). Government record.
- [4] Town of Riverhead / General Code (ecode360). Chapter 109, Civil Claims — Code of the Town of Riverhead (2026). Government record.
- [5] 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.
- [6] Suffolk County Department of Public Works. Suffolk County Roads List (n.d.). Government record.
- [8] Wading River Fire Department. Wading River Fire Department (home page) (2026). Government record.
- [9] New York State Department of Health. New York State Trauma Centers (n.d.). Government record.
- [10] Northwell Health. Contact us — Peconic Bay Medical Center (2026). Reference work.
- [11] Northwell Health / Mather Hospital. Mather Hospital (home page) (2026). Reference work.
- [12] Suffolk County Police Department. Seventh Precinct (2026). Government record.
Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.