Teen driver killed in Belt Parkway crash in Bensonhurst
A 16-year-old driver died and five motorists were injured on the Belt Parkway, where police told the Daily News Mohammed Ayth Alkotait was ejected after a high-speed crash.
What We Know
Mohammed Ayth Alkotait, a 16-year-old Arizona resident, died after a crash on the eastbound Belt Parkway near Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst early June 18, 2022. The city crash record lists one motorist killed and five motorists injured, and cites unsafe speed. The Daily News, citing police, reported that witnesses said the driver in a Honda Odyssey was traveling east at a high rate of speed when he clipped a Kia and then hit a Hyundai before overturning onto the Shore Parkway service road. Police sources told the paper investigators did not believe Alkotait was wearing a seatbelt.
Police described a high-speed eastbound crash
The city crash record places the crash at 2:05 a.m. on June 18, 2022, on the Belt Parkway and lists one motorist killed and five motorists injured.
The Daily News reported, citing police, that witnesses said the driver in a Honda Odyssey was traveling east at a high rate of speed when he clipped a Kia and then hit a Hyundai. The driver then overturned off the highway onto the Shore Parkway service road, according to the police account reported by the paper.
The crash happened near Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst
The official record lists the crash on the Belt Parkway. The Daily News reported that it happened on the eastbound side near Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst, with the driver coming to rest on the Shore Parkway service road.
A 16-year-old driver was killed
The official record identifies the person killed as a 16-year-old male driver. The Daily News identified him as Mohammed Ayth Alkotait, an Arizona resident, and reported that EMS took him to NYU Langone-Brooklyn, where he died.
Records and reporting describe the vehicles differently
The Daily News, citing police, described Alkotait as driving a Honda Odyssey minivan. The city crash record categorized that vehicle as a 2020 Honda station wagon or sport utility vehicle and listed four occupants in addition to the driver.
The official record also lists a 2021 Kia station wagon or sport utility vehicle and a 2016 Hyundai sedan, both traveling east before the crash.
Speed was central in both accounts
The city crash record cites unsafe speed as a contributing factor for the crash, and also lists unsafe lane changing for the Honda entry. The Daily News reported that witnesses told police the driver was traveling east at a high rate of speed before the impacts.
Police sources told the Daily News that investigators did not believe Alkotait was wearing a seatbelt.