A 60-year-old woman suffered serious injuries Friday night when the SUV she was stepping out of rolled backward and struck her in the driveway of her Huntington Station home. The crash happened around 9:15 p.m. as she was getting out of her stopped 2025 Honda CR-V, which began rolling backward while parked in the driveway before hitting her.
The woman was attempting to exit the vehicle in her driveway on Townhome Way, a residential townhouse development in Huntington Station, when the CR-V rolled and struck her, according to Daily Voice. Suffolk County Police reported that she was seriously injured and taken to Huntington Hospital, where she received treatment, as FOX 5 New York reported. Huntington Hospital is a 371-bed nonprofit facility within Northwell Health, per the hospital's own background information.
Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department's Second Squad impounded the Honda for a safety check. Investigators have not released a determination on what caused the SUV to roll, and the investigation into the incident continues.
A History of Shift-Interlock Trouble in Honda's Lineup
The question of mechanical versus human error looms large in cases like this one. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114 addresses theft protection and requires measures to prevent engine activation and vehicle mobility when the key is removed, according to Safety Research & Strategies, Inc. Honda itself has dealt with this exact defect before: in April 2013, American Honda recalled 204,500 vehicles nationwide, including 128,000 2012–2013 CR-Vs, after a defective brake-shift interlock allowed the vehicles to move out of Park without the brake pedal being depressed, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Federal recall records currently list three active safety recalls on the 2025 CR-V, including an October 2024 recall covering 1.7 million Honda vehicles for defective steering gearboxes, but none of those active recalls involve a rollaway defect, according to RepairPal. That distinction matters as investigators work to determine whether Friday's crash traces back to a mechanical issue, an electronic shifter fault, or something else entirely — a determination police have not yet made public.
Driveways Aren't as Safe as They Seem
Rollaway crashes like this one are more common, and more dangerous, than many drivers realize. NHTSA data shows that motor vehicle rollaways caused an average of 144 fatalities and injured roughly 1,886 nonoccupants per year in non-traffic crashes nationwide between 2016 and 2020, according to Safety Research & Strategies. More broadly, off-roadway incidents include driveway and parking lot crashes.
New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146 requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid colliding with pedestrians on a roadway, as Hoodline previously reported. Suffolk County has long grappled with vehicle-related dangers in its residential neighborhoods, and the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research compiles traffic safety data for the county, according to Walk Safe Long Island.
Police Still Seeking Information
Suffolk County Police have asked anyone with information about Friday's incident to come forward. Detectives with the Second Squad can be reached at 631-854-8252 as the mechanical inspection of the impounded CR-V continues. No cause has been officially confirmed, and investigators have not said when the safety check might be completed.
