Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Carnage

MORE CARNAGE: Motorist Kills Man on Long Island Expressway in Queens

File photo: Dave Colon

A motorist struck and killed a 52-year-old man who was fixing a flat tire on his vehicle on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway in Queens early Monday morning, police said.

The driver of a Tesla hit Jean Louis of Cambria Heights as he worked on the disabled vehicle shortly after midnight next to the LIE's westbound lane near Horace Harding Expressway and Main Street in Flushing in the 109th Precinct, according to the cops.

Louis was found with severe body trauma and was transported to New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Queens, where he died.

The Tesla driver, who the police did not identify, remained on the scene, and the investigation is ongoing.

The 109th Precinct is a notorious car sewer crisscrossed with dangerous roads. Just in the last two years (June 2019 to June 2021), it has seen 14 traffic fatalities, including 7  pedestrians, 5 motorists and 2 cyclists, and 2013 traffic injuries, from 7,109 crashes, or about 10 crashes a day, according to crashmapper.org.

Traffic violence is turning 2021 into an exceptionally bloody year — the deadliest for such fatalities since Mayor de Blasio took office. According to the Department of Transportation, as of July 25, at least 142 people have died because of motorists on city streets so far this year. It’s the most year-to-date fatalities since 2013 — before de Blasio started the Vision Zero program aimed at eliminating road deaths, as some cities have around the globe.

Annual traffic fatality figures as of 7/25/01. All numbers are preliminary and are reconciled throughout the year. “Other motorized” involve electric vehicles without pedals. Source: DOT
Annual traffic fatality figures as of 7/25/01. All numbers are preliminary and are reconciled throughout the year. “Other motorized” involve electric vehicles without pedals. Source: DOT
Annual traffic fatality figures as of 7/25/01. All numbers are preliminary and are reconciled throughout the year. “Other motorized” involve electric vehicles without pedals. Source: DOT

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

OPINION: Can Regional Governance Break New York Out of Its Constant State of Transit Emergency?

The New York region needs to fundamentally change the way it governs its transit system, our contributor writes.

December 20, 2024

Friday’s Headlines: ‘So, How Was Your Day?’ Edition

You didn't come here to find out about yesterday's crime news. Instead, here's the livable streets news!

December 20, 2024

Albany Should Use ‘Underutilized’ Transit Fund For LIRR, Metro-North Discounts: Report

An "underutilized" pot of state transportation funds could help lure more New York City residents onto the LIRR and Metro-North, according to a new report.

December 19, 2024

See It: The McGuinness Road Diet Works — But Only Where the City Installed It

The road diet works, exposing the need to extend it all the way.

December 19, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: Snow and Tell Edition

The Sanitation Department is even better prepared for winter. Plus other news.

December 19, 2024
See all posts