Driver loses control on LIE; 18-year-old passenger dies
A 20-year-old driver lost control on the westbound Long Island Expressway near the Van Wyck Expressway at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2022; passenger Katherine Lin, 18, died and two others were injured.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A 20-year-old driver was traveling west near the Van Wyck Expressway when he lost control and veered right into a guardrail; the BMW then overturned, according to QNS's account of a preliminary police investigation. The official record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor and records one death and two injuries. QNS identified the person who died as 18-year-old Katherine Lin of Elmhurst; both reports say she was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. QNS said the driver and another passenger were hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The two reports give different BMW models: 320i and 43i.
A westbound driver lost control near the Van Wyck
The official record places the crash on the Long Island Expressway at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2022, and records one person killed and two injured.
QNS reported that the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed, lost control and veered right into a guardrail; the BMW overturned. Police said no other vehicles were involved.
The crash happened near Lin's Elmhurst home
QNS reported that the crash was on the westbound Long Island Expressway near the Van Wyck Expressway. The official record places it on the Long Island Expressway, and QNS said Lin lived on Broadway near 51st Avenue, a few blocks north of the expressway.
Lin was a rear-seat passenger from Elmhurst
QNS identified Katherine Lin, 18, as an Elmhurst resident who lived on Broadway near 51st Avenue. She was seated in the rear of the vehicle and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where QNS reported she was pronounced dead.
QNS reported that the 20-year-old male driver was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center in critical but stable condition. The other passenger, an 18-year-old woman, was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in critical but stable condition.
QNS reports differ on the BMW model
One QNS report identifies the vehicle as a 2018 BMW 320i; the other calls it a 2018 BMW 43i. The official record classifies the vehicle as a 2018 sedan with three occupants.
The record lists unsafe speed
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. QNS reported that a preliminary police investigation found the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed before losing control.
Police found all three occupants trapped
QNS reported that officers from the 110th Precinct responded to a 911 call and found the driver and both passengers trapped. The report said the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.