Motorcycle driver dies at Williamsburg Bridge exit ramp
A 25-year-old motorcycle driver was killed at the Williamsburg Bridge exit ramp at Borinquen Place, and police-based news accounts differed on whether another driver fled or the rider hit a barrier at high speed.
What We Know
A 25-year-old man driving a 2015 Yamaha motorcycle eastbound at the Williamsburg Bridge exit ramp at Borinquen Place was killed, according to the city crash record, which lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. News accounts based on police information diverged: the Daily News and Post reported that another driver hit or collided with him and left the scene, with the Post saying police described the other vehicle as possibly a taxi; amNewYork reported that police said the rider was moving at high speed when he hit a barrier wall and a light pole. All three accounts said responders pronounced him dead at the scene.
Accounts diverged on the crash sequence
The city crash record places the fatal crash at 4:11 a.m. on July 9, 2022, at the Williamsburg Bridge Exit Ramp and Borinquen Place. It records one motorist killed, a motorcycle involved, and unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
The Daily News and the Post, citing police, reported that the 25-year-old rider was on the Williamsburg Bridge ramp toward the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway when another driver hit or collided with him and continued without stopping.
amNewYork reported a different police account: the rider was heading down the bridge ramp to the eastbound BQE at high speed when he hit a roadway barrier wall and a light pole.
A bridge ramp feeding the BQE
The official crash location is the Williamsburg Bridge Exit Ramp at Borinquen Place in Brooklyn. News reports placed the rider on the ramp from the bridge toward, or entering, the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway near the Williamsburg Bridge.
The person killed was a 25-year-old rider
The city record identifies the person killed as a 25-year-old male motorcycle driver. News outlets reported that police had not released his name while family notification was pending.
The record lists a Yamaha motorcycle, while reports described a possible second driver
The official crash record lists a 2015 Yamaha motorcycle traveling east with one occupant. The Daily News and Post, citing police, reported that another driver left the scene; the Post said police described the other vehicle as possibly a taxi.
Speed is in the official record; hit-and-run was reported in two accounts
The city crash record lists unsafe speed as the contributing factor. amNewYork also reported that police said the rider was moving at high speed before he hit the barrier wall and light pole.
The Daily News and Post accounts added a different element, reporting that another driver left after contact with the rider. Those reports said no arrests had been made as of July 9.
Police and medics found the rider dead at the scene
The Daily News reported that responding officers found the rider dead at the scene, while the Post and amNewYork reported that police or paramedics pronounced him dead there. The Post said the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating, and the Daily News reported that police had not located the car involved by Saturday.