Driver loses control on Long Island Expressway; passenger dies
A 20-year-old driver lost control on the westbound Long Island Expressway, QNS reported, in a crash recorded at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2022, in which passenger Katherine Lin, 18, died and two people were injured.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
QNS reported that the driver was speeding, lost control and veered into a guardrail before the sedan overturned; CBS reported multiple flips after guardrail contact. Lin was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, and two other occupants were hospitalized. The official record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
Police accounts describe a speeding driver and guardrail contact
QNS reported that the driver was traveling at high speed, lost control and veered right into a guardrail before the BMW overturned. CBS reported that police described the driver as speeding and said the vehicle flipped multiple times after guardrail contact. The official record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
Lin lived a few blocks from the crash site
QNS identified Katherine Lin, 18, of Elmhurst, as a rear passenger and said she lived on Broadway near 51st Avenue, a few blocks north of the expressway. EMS took her to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead; the official record also gives the deceased passenger's age as 18.
QNS said the 20-year-old driver was hospitalized in critical but stable condition; CBS described him as in critical condition. QNS reported that the other passenger, an 18-year-old woman, was in critical but stable condition after being taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
Reports differ on the nearby interchange and time
The official record places the crash on the Long Island Expressway at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2022. QNS located it near the Van Wyck Expressway; CBS placed it near the Grand Central Parkway and reported a time around 12:30 a.m.
Reports give different BMW model names
The official record describes a 2018 BMW sedan with three occupants. One QNS report calls it a BMW 320i; another calls it a BMW 43i.
The investigation was ongoing
QNS reported that the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating. CBS reported that part of the expressway was closed for hours overnight.