By Connor Adams Sheets
Two fatal, single-vehicle motorcycle crashes took place in the first six days of June in eastern Queens, and former City Councilman Tony Avella wants the city and state Departments of Transportation to make changes to prevent more from taking place.
Phil Clemens, a 27-year-old city police officer in the 100th Precinct, lost control of his 2001 Suzuki GSX R600 motorcycle while off-duty at 9:50 p.m. June 2 as he traveled northbound on the Cross Island Parkway and made a turn onto the southbound Whitestone Expressway, police said.
He collided with the guardrail and was taken to New York Hospital Queens, where he was later pronounced dead, according to police.
In the second incident, a motorcyclist driving northbound on 221st Street near 145th Road Street at about 7:50 p.m. Sunday lost control of his 2006 Yamaha motorcycle, which left the road, crashed into a tree and ejected the rider from the bike, police said. The victim, whose name was not released by police, was taken to Franklin General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 8:20 p.m,, according to police.
Investigations continued into both crashes and police did not indicate whether speed, alcohol or other circumstances were factors in either accident.
Avella held a news conference on a 147th Street overpass overlooking the site where Clemens crashed and where 24-year-old Eric Arsenault, an aspiring motorcycle mechanic from Port Washington, died in a similar manner May 17, 2006, just one week after purchasing the motorcycle he died riding.
Avella hoped to put pressure on officials to make the location safer, an effort he undertook as councilman in the months following Arsenault’s death but was unsuccessful in the face of officials who never made any significant changes there.
“Unfortunately, we’re here for the second time in several years, asking the state and city DOTs to do something about what’s called Dead Man’s Curve on the Cross Island Expressway,” he said. “When Eric died, we asked the city to make changes to improve safety, but they only did minor changes. Now two people have died here and we’re here to say enough is enough. There need to be major safety improvements here.”
Avella was accompanied by Arsenault’s father, Chris, who advocated tirelessly to have the turn’s safety improved in the years following his son’s death, quitting his job and spending much of his retirement savings to hold seven rallies to draw attention to the issue.
He said the changes he would like to see made are relatively minor and that they could have a large impact in protecting drivers. The spot has also been the site of numerous car crashes.
Arsenault has several suggestions for the curve, chief among them being improving lighting and installing a taller, thicker guardrail or barrier. The current barrier is low to the ground and has exposed sharp metal, which sliced through Eric Arsenault’s helmet and head, killing him.
“It’s just one big deathtrap and some major things need to be done here …. I honestly believe that if one or both of these things were done, my son and [Clemens] would still be alive today. They would have been banged up, maybe some broken bones, but they’d still be with us,” Chris Arsenault said. “I can’t believe I’m here again. I really hope this works this time around.”
A 2007 letter to state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) from the city Department of Transportation indicated that the city made some safety improvements at the location of Eric Arsenault’s death in the months after he died, including trimming foliage, replacing and repairing lights and installing 25-mph warning signs ahead of the curve.
Chris Arsenault said other measures should be taken, including clearing brush and foliage near the turn and adding better warning lights and signs to augment the one existing sign indicating the approach to the turn.
Springfield Gardens resident Michael Nathaniel Moore was killed two years before Arsenault and was missing for 40 days before a search crew discovered his wrecked motorcycle and his body hidden among the brush in the same location.
“I’ll be contacting the city and state Departments of Transportation to do these improvements immediately,” Avella said. “I don’t see how they can ignore this again.”
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
