The intersection of Laurel Hill Boulevard and 48th Street where a moped rider was killed Saturday night. Photo via Google Maps
Mar. 11, 2024 By Bill Parry
A moped rider was killed when he lost control and crashed on Laurel Hill Boulevard in Woodside on Saturday night.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City responded to a 911 call of a vehicle collision near 48th Street where they found the moped rider unconscious and unresponsive lying on the roadway. EMS rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short while later, police said.
Further investigation by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that the man was operating a gas-powered moped traveling eastbound on Laurel Hill Boulevard just before 11:50 p.m., when he failed to navigate the roadway and struck a curb causing the rider to be ejected from the moped.
The crash came at a time when heavy downpours were lashing the borough with more than an inch-and-a-half of rain on Saturday night that caused multiple road closures across Queens.
An NYPD spokeswoman on Monday morning was unsure whether the wet conditions played a factor in the crash and added that it is not yet known whether or not the victim was wearing a helmet at the time of the fatal crash.
The identity of the deceased is still pending proper family notification and the investigation by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad remains ongoing.
