Reckless drivers kills delivery man on scooter and crashes into restaurant shed

A 37 year-old delivery man was killed and several other people were injured in a reckless car crash in Queens, NYC. The accident took place last Thursday night around 6:00 pm. A 60 year-old woman driving a 2013 Merccedez-Benz C-300 who was driving behind a slow-moving vehicle lost patience and decided to use the bike lane to pass the vehicle. She struck two parked cars and  37 year old Xing Long Lin, a delivery man on a scooter, who got trapped and dragged under the car as the driver continued to drive and crashed into the outdoor setting of Rosatoro Restaurant located at the corner of 35th Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens. After the car crashed into the outdoor setting, it jumped the curb, knocked down a tree and ended in the front window of the restaurant.

Xing Long Lin died in the accident. The delivery worker  came to US from China 14 years ago and lived with his wife and his two children 5 and 9 year old  in Elmhurst. He was the sole provider for his family and was also taking car of his mother in China.

Among those injured was a 32 year-old woman who was sitting in the restaurant and who sustained injuries to her leg after glass and debris went flying into the dining areas. She was transported to the hospital to be treated.

The restaurant shed  was completely destroyed and the front of the restaurant was significantly damaged. The owner of the restaurant told media that the area in the shed was closed for dining on Thursday night because the weather was not warm enough. The accident could have been even worse if that area was open to diners.

The accident occurred on a unprotected bike lane. “Unprotected bike lane are often an incentive for reckless drivers to misbehave” wrote Queens assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the Gofundme he set up for the family of Li Chen. As long as bike lanes are not protected from cars entering them, more people will die.

Read more in the Gothamist