Right Lane Closed After Crash on Westbound Southern State Parkway

Right Lane Closed After Crash on Westbound Southern State Parkway. in hempstead. Nassau County. May 3, 2026.

Updated May 4, 2026
MINOR INCIDENT
1 Right lane closed lanes affected
westbound · Hempstead Southern State Parkway
Road
Southern State Parkway
Direction
westbound
Town
Hempstead
County
nassau County
Reported
Updated
Source
511NY
📍Reported incident location Open in Google Maps →

Map showing incident location at 40.6938, -73.5458 Location: Southern State Parkway, Long Island

What Happened

A crash on the westbound Southern State Parkway in Nassau County closed the right lane Sunday evening, according to traffic reports. The incident occurred on May 3, 2026, though the exact time and specific location along the parkway remain unclear.

Details about the vehicles involved, the cause of the crash, and whether anyone was injured have not been confirmed. The severity has been classified as minor, though it’s uncertain what criteria determined this classification or whether this assessment could change as more information becomes available.

Traffic was being diverted around the closed right lane, though the duration of the closure and whether additional lanes were affected remains unknown. It’s also unclear which emergency services responded to the scene or whether the vehicles involved required towing.

Location & Road Context

The Southern State Parkway serves as a major east-west artery across Nassau and Suffolk counties, connecting drivers from the Queens border to communities throughout Long Island. The westbound direction typically carries heavy traffic on Sunday evenings as weekend travelers return home.

According to Long Island Traffic records, the Southern State Parkway has logged 363 incidents in the database, making it one of the region’s most accident-prone roadways. This crash marks at least the third reported incident on the parkway in just two days, following additional crashes on May 2nd and earlier on May 3rd. Nassau County overall has recorded 320 accidents in the database, highlighting the ongoing traffic safety challenges across the county’s busy road network.

The concentration of incidents on this stretch of highway over the weekend raises questions about contributing factors, though traffic volume, weather conditions, and road surface conditions at the time of Sunday’s crash have not been reported.

Topics

Southern State ParkwayHempsteadNassau CountyNassau County accidentSouthern State Parkway trafficSouthern State Parkway accident todayHempstead trafficHempstead accidentLong Island accident todayLong Island traffic todayLong IslandNY

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I'm in a car accident Southern State Parkway in Hempstead?

Call 911 immediately if anyone is injured or if the vehicles can't be moved safely off the roadway. Stay at the scene — leaving the scene of an accident with injuries is a crime under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §600. Exchange license, registration, and insurance information with every other driver involved. Take photographs of every vehicle, the position of the vehicles before they're moved, all license plates, the road surface, traffic signs, and any visible injuries. Get the names and phone numbers of every witness — police often won't capture bystander witnesses on their own. Seek medical attention within 24 hours even if you feel fine; soft-tissue injuries and concussions can take a day or two to present, and a delayed medical visit weakens an injury claim. NCPD generally responds to accidents on Nassau County roads outside of incorporated villages with their own police forces (e.g., Garden City, Freeport). For state highways (I-495 LIE, Northern State Parkway, Southern State Parkway, Meadowbrook Parkway, Wantagh Parkway), New York State Police Troop L responds.

How long do I have to file a no-fault claim in New York?

Thirty days. New York Insurance Law §5102 requires you to file a Personal Injury Protection (PIP/no-fault) application with the insurer of the vehicle you were in (or, if you were a pedestrian or cyclist, with the insurer of the striking vehicle) within 30 days of the accident. Missing the 30-day deadline can void your no-fault benefits — that's up to $50,000 in medical bills and 80% of lost wages (capped at $2,000/month) per injured person. The form is the NF-2 application; your insurance carrier provides it on request. New York no-fault is a true PIP system: it pays regardless of who caused the crash.

How long do I have to sue after a Long Island car accident?

Three years from the date of the accident for personal injury claims under CPLR §214(5). Wrongful death claims have a two-year deadline under EPTL §5-4.1. If a government entity is involved (a county vehicle, a road defect on a state highway, a defective traffic signal, a county bus), you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e — that's a non-negotiable jurisdictional deadline, and missing it usually bars the claim entirely. Property-damage-only claims have the same three-year clock. The clock starts on the day of the accident, not the day you discover the full extent of an injury.

How do I get a copy of the police accident report?

If Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) responded to the scene, the report is filed under an MV-104A form. In New York State, you can request a copy through the DMV at https://dmv.ny.gov/vehicle-safety/get-copy-accident-report (roughly $7 online, $10 by mail) once the responding agency has uploaded it to the state system, which usually takes 5-10 business days. NCPD and SCPD also have their own direct-request processes through the precinct that responded. If you weren't injured but the property damage exceeded $1,000, New York VTL §605 requires you (the driver) to file your own MV-104 report with the DMV within 10 days regardless of whether police responded.

How dangerous is Southern State Parkway near Hempstead?

Long Island Traffic tracks every reported incident on this road across both counties — see the road profile page for the multi-year accident count, severity distribution, and the specific intersections that show repeated incident clusters. Suffolk and Nassau county roads with chronic problems are reviewed by their respective DOTs on a multi-year cadence; persistent issues are sometimes addressed with new signal phasing, lane-narrowing treatments, or — in extreme cases — a Vision Zero engineering response. Daily incident updates flow into our live-events feed every fifteen minutes.

Disclaimer: Incident information on this page is compiled from public sources including police reports, traffic agencies, and news outlets. It is provided for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current status of this incident. Do not rely on this information for legal, insurance, or emergency decisions. For emergencies, call 911.