Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A 24-year-old Astoria motorcyclist is dead after a two-vehicle crash on the Long Island Expressway in Queens left him ejected into the center lane, where a second driver struck him and then fled the scene — a tragedy that unfolded in a matter of seconds on a Thursday afternoon in late July.
According to the New York Daily News, Kahyl Pena was riding his 2019 Kawasaki motorcycle westbound on the Long Island Expressway when he veered right onto the shoulder near 97th Street in Corona, Queens, in an apparent attempt to pass a slower vehicle. The incident occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2025 — during what would have been typical mid-afternoon rush-hour building traffic on one of the region’s most heavily traveled corridors.
As the Daily News reports, when Pena attempted to move back to the left and re-enter the travel lanes from the shoulder, he struck the rear left side of a 2024 Mazda CX-5. The force of the collision launched Pena off his motorcycle, sending him airborne before he came down in the center lane of the expressway — directly in the path of oncoming traffic.
Pena was struck by the rear tire of a second vehicle traveling through the center lane, police said. That driver did not stop. Investigators subsequently determined that the second driver was apparently unaware they had struck a person and continued on their way, according to the New York Daily News. As of Monday, July 28 — when police publicly announced the crash — that driver had still not been located by cops.
The 26-year-old man driving the Mazda CX-5 remained at the scene following the collision and cooperated with investigators. He was not charged. Police did not identify him by name. The sequence of events — Pena using the shoulder to pass, then merging back into traffic before being struck by the SUV — appears to have placed the origin of the crash with the motorcyclist’s own lane change, which is consistent with why the SUV driver faced no charges.
Emergency medical personnel rushed Pena to Elmhurst Hospital Center, but despite their efforts, he could not be saved. Pena, who lived in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, was pronounced dead. He was 24 years old. Police announced the fatality publicly on Monday, July 28, 2025, three days after the crash occurred.
Location & Road Context
The crash took place on the Long Island Expressway westbound, near the 97th Street interchange in the Corona section of Queens — a stretch of I-495 that serves as a major artery connecting eastern Long Island to Midtown Manhattan. This particular corridor is among the most congested in the entire New York metropolitan area, especially during afternoon hours when commuter and commercial traffic regularly bottleneck approaching the Queens–Midtown Tunnel and the Van Wyck interchange.
Our database at Long Island Traffic shows 795 recorded incidents on I-495 alone, underscoring the expressway’s chronic danger profile. Recent incidents on the same corridor include a series of crashes and disabled vehicles throughout May 2026, including an overturned vehicle on I-495, a crash on I-495, and another crash on I-495 just days later — a pattern that reflects the expressway’s persistent risk for all road users, and particularly motorcyclists traveling among high-speed, high-volume traffic.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
As of Monday, July 28, police had not located or identified the second driver whose rear tire struck Pena in the center lane. Investigators believe the driver may have been genuinely unaware that they had made contact with a person on the roadway — a scenario that can occur when a motorcyclist or pedestrian is struck at a low contact point on a larger vehicle. However, leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death is a criminal offense under New York State law regardless of whether the driver knew they had struck someone.
No charges have been filed in connection with the death as of the most recent update from the New York Daily News on July 28, 2025. The investigation is ongoing, and police are actively seeking the public’s help in identifying the second vehicle and its driver. Anyone with information is urged to contact the NYPD. The 26-year-old Mazda CX-5 driver, who remained at the scene, was not charged and is not considered a suspect.
Broader Impact
Shoulder-passing by motorcyclists — often called “lane filtering” or informal shoulder use — is not legal in New York State, and this crash illustrates the acute danger it can create when a rider attempts to re-merge into high-speed traffic. The fatal sequence here began with that single maneuver near 97th Street, a reminder that the I-495 corridor, with its compressed lanes, heavy truck traffic, and unpredictable merge patterns, leaves almost no margin for error for motorcyclists operating outside designated travel lanes. Riders involved in crashes on the LIE can also review their rights at Long Island Traffic’s Know Your Rights resource.