Two women seriously injured in Coram crash with dump truck

Two women were seriously hurt at the Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road and Pine Road intersection in Coram after a left turn put a Toyota in the path of a dump truck at 3:37 p.m. Thursday, leaving both occupants with injuries severe enough to require hospital care.

Suffolk County police said 39-year-old Tanya Fernandez of Coram was driving a 2007 Toyota southbound on Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road when she attempted to make a left-hand turn into the eastbound lanes of Pine Road. The car collided with a northbound 2001 Peterbilt dump truck and both Fernandez and her passenger, 37-year-old Laura Thiele of Centereach, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious physical injuries.

The truck driver, Matthew Corliss, 35, of Centereach, was not injured. Police have not said whether charges were filed, and investigators have not released any information suggesting weather, speed or impairment played a role. The crash remains under review by Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives.

The collision drew attention because it happened on Patchogue-Mount Sinai Road, a major East Suffolk roadway where drivers often have to judge gaps in traffic while crossing lanes used by larger vehicles. At Pine Road, the turn requires a quick read of oncoming traffic and enough room to clear a commercial truck, a combination that can leave little margin for error when sight lines or timing are off.

The county’s Motor Carrier Safety Section also has a role in commercial-vehicle crashes like this one. The unit was formed in 1984 in response to the increasing incidence and severity of crashes involving commercial motor vehicles in Suffolk County, and it investigates those cases in the police district and the five eastern towns.

Coram has already seen other deadly traffic crashes in recent months. On Jan. 3, 2026, a woman was killed in a four-vehicle crash at Route 112 and County Road 83. On Dec. 26, 2025, Michael Vogt died after his Hyundai struck a center median on North Ocean Avenue. Thursday’s crash adds another serious injury case to a corridor where severe wrecks have continued to pile up.

Police asked anyone with information about the Coram collision to call 631-854-8652.