NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- At least 21 people have been killed in Long Island crashes so far in August, including three people who died in separate collisions in Suffolk County over the weekend.
The summer months have always been especially deadly on the island's roadways, but the roads appear to be getting even more dangerous lately.
In just a year, Long Island traffic fatalities increased 24%, according to the TRIP report. Suffolk is ranked as number one for traffic fatalities in New York State, while Nassau County is ranked number three.
The latest victims include Gabriel Reyes, 50, of Bay Shore, a motorcyclist who was killed in Brentwood around 11:40 a.m. Saturday when he crashed head-on into a Ford Explorer, Suffolk police said.
Reyes was riding a Kawasaki motorbike westbound on Spur Drive North when he crossed the double yellow line just west of Route 111 and struck the eastbound Ford, according to police.
He was pronounced dead at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. The 38-year-old man driving the Ford was not injured.
Less than 12 hours later, Olivia Montgomery, 20, of Farmingville, was killed when she lost control of her Dodge Ram in East Moriches around 10:50 p.m. Saturday, police said.
The Dodge left the roadway as Montgomery was entering the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway at Exit 61. The vehicle overturned and ejected Montgomery, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the county medical examiner.
And then early Sunday morning, Christopher McGuckin, 54, of Shoreham, was killed when he lost control of his Hyundai Genesis in Port Jefferson Station.
McGuckin was headed southbound on Route 112 at 12:45 a.m. when the out-of-control sedan struck a telephone pole, a fire hydrant and a tree, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the county medical examiner.
All three crashes remain under investigation, according to police.
Two weeks ago in Massapequa, four family members, including three kids, were killed when an alleged speeding and drugged-up driver crashed into their car and several others at an intersection by Sunrise Mall, police said.
Hours after that crash, another alleged speeding DWI driver killed a 6-year-old girl in West Hempstead, according to cops.
About a week later, an alleged drunk, wrong-way driver crashed into a married couple's car in Laurel Hollow in Nassau. The wife died at the scene, while the husband was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Eric Alexander, the director of Vision Long Island, said speeding is a big problem on the island. Redesigning roadways to discourage speeders is among the changes that could save lives, he said.
"You've got 13-foot, sometimes 14 or 15-foot, lanes going through downtowns—that's the width of the Long Island Expressway," he said. "When lanes are wide, they induce speeding."
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