22-Year-Old Motorcyclist Dies in Riverhead Crash with Pickup Truck

Ismael Santiago Basantez-Ramon, 22, died after a crash Tuesday morning at Cross River Drive and Union Avenue in Riverhead, a County Road 105 intersection where morning traffic and a left turn collided at 7:57 a.m.

Riverhead police said the crash involved a motorcycle and a pickup truck. News 12 Long Island reported that the pickup was turning left from Union Avenue onto Cross River Drive when the motorcycle struck it. Basantez-Ramon was rushed to Peconic Bay Medical Center and later pronounced dead. The pickup driver was hospitalized, treated and later released. Police said no criminality was suspected.

The Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported the motorcycle operator to the hospital, and RiverheadLOCAL reported that Cross River Drive was closed between Main Road and Northville Turnpike for more than an hour while officers investigated. One report identified the motorcycle as a 2022 CFMoto. The shutdown underscored how quickly a crash at that intersection can disrupt one of Riverhead’s key north-south connectors.

The death also drew attention because Cross River Drive, also known as County Road 105, has seen other severe collisions in recent years. The roadway was the site of a separate fatal multi-vehicle crash in August 2024, followed by a guilty plea in March 2025 and a sentencing in April 2025 tied to that earlier case. Those earlier events do not explain this crash, but they do show that the corridor has already been marked by deadly traffic violence.

The broader public-health context is stark. The New York State Department of Health says motor vehicle traffic injuries are the leading cause of injury-related death for Suffolk County residents, and state traffic-safety systems track motorcycle fatalities as a separate category because riders face distinct risks on the road. Preliminary statewide data released in December 2025 showed motorcycle fatalities had declined from the same period in 2024, yet Riverhead’s latest loss showed how vulnerable a rider remains when a turn across traffic goes wrong on a major roadway.