Shirley woman seriously injured after being struck on Dawn Drive
A Shirley woman was airlifted with serious injuries after a Buick struck her on Dawn Drive, a crash that renewed concern about walking safety on neighborhood roads.
A morning walk on Dawn Drive turned into a trauma response when a 64-year-old Shirley woman was struck on the road’s right shoulder near Pinelawn Avenue and rushed by air to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries.
Suffolk County police said Theresa Nicke was hit at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 20, while walking along the shoulder of the residential street. The vehicle was an eastbound 2013 Buick Regal driven by Dale Cronin, 23, of Shirley. Cronin was not injured.
Police impounded the Buick for a safety check as Seventh Squad detectives investigated the crash. Anyone with information was asked to call the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752.
The collision underscores how vulnerable pedestrians can be even on local roads that are not major arterials. Nicke was walking on the shoulder, not in the travel lane, yet she was still struck in a stretch of roadway where drivers and pedestrians are forced to operate within narrow margins.
The crash also comes against a broader backdrop of pedestrian danger across Suffolk County. A recent Long Island pedestrian-safety summary cited 642 pedestrians involved in crashes in Suffolk County from October 2024 through September 2025, including 573 injuries and 33 fatalities. Those numbers put the Shirley crash into a countywide pattern that has continued to take a toll on people walking near traffic.
Suffolk County planning materials have said pedestrian safety concerns can include high vehicular traffic, speeding, sidewalk and crosswalk conditions, and a lack of ADA compliance. In a place like Shirley, those factors can matter street by street, especially on roads where shoulders may be narrow and visibility can change quickly with lighting, traffic flow and the way the road is built.
For Nicke and her family, the impact was immediate and severe. For Shirley and the rest of Brookhaven Town, the crash is another reminder that the safety of people on foot depends on more than caution alone. It also depends on whether roads, shoulders and crossings are designed to protect them before a collision happens.
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