A 49-year-old motorcyclist from Ulster County was killed Saturday morning after losing control of his bike on the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth, striking a metal sewer grate before slamming into a barrier wall. David Rivera, who lived on Athboy Drive in Marlboro, was riding a Suzuki GSX-R750 eastbound on the outer roadway ramp east of 69th Street when the crash occurred on August 8, 2026.
According to QNS, Rivera had been traveling on the right shoulder of the expressway rather than in an active travel lane when he lost control, struck the grate, and collided with the barrier wall. NYPD's 104th Precinct responded to a 911 call for the vehicle collision and found Rivera lying on the roadway with a serious head injury. EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.
The NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad determined that Rivera struck the metal sewer grate and then collided with the barrier wall, sustaining fatal head trauma. Rivera was formally identified by police on August 10, two days after the crash. No arrests have been made in connection with the crash, and the investigation remains ongoing, per the NYPD Highway District.
Why Shoulder Riding Carries Extra Risk
Traveling on the shoulder of a controlled-access highway like the LIE is not just risky — it's illegal. Under New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1131, motor vehicles, including motorcycles, are barred from driving along the shoulder or slope of state controlled-access highways, an offense that can carry a fine of up to $150, two license points, and up to 15 days in jail, according to Rosenblum Law. Shoulders are also more likely to contain uneven surface features, such as metal sewer grates, that can easily destabilize a motorcycle's two-wheeled contact with the road.
Fixed roadway hazards, cornering errors, and loss of control are frequently cited as major contributing factors in single-vehicle motorcycle crashes on urban roadways, according to New York City Department of Transportation motorcycle safety studies referenced in earlier Hoodline reporting. It remains unclear whether investigators will point to any environmental or road-maintenance factors tied to the sewer grate itself, or whether speed or other maneuvering contributed to Rivera drifting outside the active travel lanes.
Queens Remains a Motorcycle Danger Zone
The crash lands amid a broader — and largely positive — shift in New York City traffic safety. The city recorded 205 traffic fatalities in 2025, a 19 percent drop from 253 the year before and the lowest annual total since record-keeping began in 1910, according to Giampa Law. Motorcycle deaths specifically fell 32 percent from 2024 to 2025, following a 2023 peak of 55 motorcycle fatalities that was the highest single-year total on record in the city, per data cited by NYC.gov.
Even so, Queens remains one of the two deadliest boroughs in the city for riders. Queens and Brooklyn together account for 74 percent of all motorcycle fatalities citywide, with Brooklyn recording 46 motorcycle deaths and Queens 43 between 2023 and 2025, according to AEE Law. Statewide, the trend has also moved in a safer direction, with preliminary data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research showing motorcycle fatalities falling from 157 between January and October 2024 to 134 over the same span in 2025, per the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
The risks facing motorcyclists remain stark on a national level as well. Per mile traveled, motorcycle fatalities nationwide were nearly 28 times higher than passenger car fatalities in 2023, with a national fatality rate of 66.57 per 100,000 registered motorcycles, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Separately, NYC Department of Transportation data shows that among motorcyclists killed in city crashes in 2023, only 27 percent held a valid motorcycle driver's license at the time of the incident.
A Familiar, Dangerous Stretch of Highway
The Long Island Expressway through Queens has a troubled recent history. The corridor saw another fatal collision near Exit 19 in Elmhurst this August that killed a tow truck operator assisting a disabled vehicle, and a May 2025 crash on the expressway led to a conviction for aggravated vehicular homicide, as Hoodline has previously reported in its coverage of a guilty plea in that case. The 104th Precinct, which responded to Rivera's crash, covers Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, and Maspeth, with the expressway forming its northern boundary.
No arrests have been made in Rivera's case, and the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad's inquiry into the circumstances of the crash continues.
