Trooper injured on Southern State Parkway after Jeep hits patrol car

A routine highway response turned dangerous in four minutes on the eastbound Southern State Parkway, where a gray Jeep Wrangler struck a marked State Police troop car just west of Exit 14 and injured a trooper who had been helping with traffic control.

Troopers had first responded at about 5:43 a.m. April 12, 2026, to a motor vehicle collision at the hazardous stretch of roadway, where marked patrol cars were positioned to protect the scene. At about 5:47 a.m., State Police said, the Jeep hit the rear of the patrol car, pushing it from the right lane across the center and into the left lanes before the Jeep left the roadway and came to rest on the right shoulder.

Both the trooper and the Jeep driver were taken to local hospitals and later released with non-life-threatening injuries. State Police said the driver told investigators she had been distracted while adjusting her boot and socks inside the vehicle. The agency also said the Jeep was traveling at an unsafe speed and failed to move over for a marked police vehicle.

The crash is a reminder of how quickly a first collision can create a second emergency for the people trying to secure it. On Long Island’s major parkways, where traffic moves fast and shoulder space can be limited, officers, tow operators and other responders often work only feet from passing cars. One distracted driver can turn a cleanup scene into a new impact zone in seconds.

The New York State Move Over Law has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2012, and is designed to protect law enforcement officers, emergency workers, tow and service vehicle operators and maintenance crews stopped along the roadway. The state Department of Motor Vehicles says drivers must use due care to avoid colliding with any vehicle parked, stopped or standing on the shoulder or any portion of a highway.

Trooper Brittany Burton was listed as the Troop L public information officer on the State Police release, and Troop L commander Major Christopher P. Casale was also named. The incident adds to a string of serious Southern State Parkway crashes on Long Island this spring, a pattern that has kept Suffolk and Nassau counties on alert about the danger of fast-moving traffic around crash scenes.