Nov. 10, 2018 By Christian Murray (Update)
Two Sunnyside residents are dead after the motorcycle they were riding on went down 43rd Avenue in the wrong direction and crashed into a van during the early hours Saturday, police said.
Police responded to a 911 call at about 3:35 a.m. about a collision in the vicinity of 43rd Avenue and 38th Street. They discovered Steven Goddard, a 22-year-old man who was riding a 2018 Suzuki DRZ motorcycle, and Amy Gutierrez, his 20-year-old passenger, unconscious and unresponsive on the roadway.
The pair were transported to Elmhurst Hospital and were both pronounced dead.
The police determined that the bike was travelling at a high rate of speed going in the wrong direction when it struck a red Ford E250 van, operated by a 27-year-old man. The driver remained on the scene and refused medical attention.
There are no arrests and the investigation remain ongoing.
Featured Events
47 Comments
Let’s use a little reason here. Yes, the motorcycle was going the wrong way on a one way street. However, who among us who have operated a motor vehicle or motorcycles have not at one time or another inadvertently done the same thing. Was your penalty death for the infraction. So what did kill these two young people. I believe the answer to that is congestion caused by the street redesign what DOT likes to call “traffic calming”. The idea is to make driving through areas more difficult and thus deter motorists from driving through the area. In this you have to admit the plan worked. You cannot get “calmer” than death. I have lived a few blocks from this intersection since 1992 and I know that in the past fifteen years we had one fatality in our neighborhood. This of course was used as the reason to redesign the streets in the first place. Funny how no one wants to mention that Reyes (the”victim”) essentially killed himself by running a red light in front of an oncoming vehicle. If this death is a reason to destroy our neighborhood with protected bike lanes in the name of safety then the death of these two young people is reason to restore our streets to the way they were. Remember our community board voted 29-7 to not have the bike lanes installed and that these young would be alive today without the effects of the redesign. This puts only one person in our community to blame for this tragedy. There is blood on the hands of one Jimmy Von Bramer.
This is an ignorant and completely insane comment. Going the wrong way and speeding have everything to do with this, not a bike lane.
You are the one who is ignorant. If the bike lanes had not been installed on such a small street there would have been a way for the van to avoid the motorcycle. Well all of you bike maniacs, the few of you that actually use the bike lanes, seem to always get their way with this administration at the expense of thousands of drivers who use the street. It seems transportation alternatives owns DiBlasio and Jimmy Van Bramer. These so called progressives seem to do just the opposite and destroy what works for the neighborhood. They want us to accept their agenda and not do what most of the residents of Sunnyside and Woodside want. I guess Jimmy‘s response is let them eat cake .
DOT which is supposed to be an agency form of the people in the city sent bike advocates whowork for them out to design this crazy plan which is not beneficial to anyone. They seem to have forgotten their purpose as civil servants which is to make it a better quality of life situation for the neighborhood not for a few bike riders at the expense of everyone else.
This is totally disgusting. Hatred seething in every word. The defense of dangerous driving, the victim blaming on a cyclist, the blaming of a safer road design here, the rationale of 3am congestion when it was clear from the video that those were the only two vehicles on the block. The disgraceful assertion that bike lanes destroy a neighborhood and that this tragedy justifies returning to an unsafer configuration of our streets. It’s unconscionable. Absolute filth.
Reason is a good thing. But you’re starting with two flawed premises. First, you’re assuming it was a mistake. And second, NOBODY is saying the punishment for making a mistake (if this even was one) is the death penalty. But that doesn’t absolve them of responsibility.
To blame this on street design, and not on the fact that they ignored signs and the oncoming lights from the van itself is the opposite of reason. The city is full of one-way one-lane streets, and if your premise was correct we’d be seeing a lot more of these kinds of crashes. And yes, I have made these kinds of mistakes before. One time I actually got hit. Thankfully it wasn’t serious, but I understand that it could have been, and actually was my fault.
Incredible one can read. Simply consider the NOISE a motorcycle makes at 3:35 a.m. Why rushing? There is no “congestion” at 3:35 a.m. I mean if you don’t know the basics of safe driving don’t ride a motorcycle. This is sad but a good example of somebody who didn’t learn from their mistakes or didn’t asses them.
I guess bikers who like to make unnecessary noise all times of day are disagreeing with your post. This gentleman riding the motorbike killed himself and caused death of a young woman, and devastated families, and now his mourners are uncontrollably spray painting and defacing public and private properties.
By the way,
There is a video on NY Post website showing the accident. What is the toxicology report if one was one?
The young folks of sunnyside should learn lessons from two recent accidents, one was a drag racer and now biker going on wrong direction at 3AM. What was the argument on that accident? There shouldn’t have been a pole there?
You said
>and that these young would be alive today without the effects of the redesign
And it makes no sense.
These young would be alive today if they didn’t drive wrong direction. If you see I am not saying they would be alive if they didn’t ride the bike.. because what you say is similar to me saying they would be alive if they were home sleeping…
He was speeding the wrong way down a one-way street and crashed. That’s why he’s dead. jfc the obsession you all have with bike lanes is astounding.
if a dog got run over by a bicyclist the bike lanes would be history by now
Elmhurst Hospital is one of the worst hospitals. Everyone dies there.
not true at all.
We need protected motorcycle lanes NOW! Where JVB on this!
This is the most stupid design Is bean made (. parking in the middle and the streets ) The root come to be very busy for truck for School bus. bicycle dog human Double parking We just in the beginning there was only two months so we might expect. More death in the street We must’ve a Better solution
I think some of those were words
how is this related to a motorcycle gang? one motorcycle, speeding, wrong way, with passenger.
To the people blaming bike lanes for this tragedy… Are you also blaming one-way streets? Perhaps we should abolish all one-way streets and make all of our streets wide enough for two lanes just in case someone decides to go the wrong way on a street.
This road used to be a 2 way with a bike lane. That’s the point we’re trying to make. If the so called “better bike lane ” was not but in place they would have been alive.. that’s the pure truth..
I used to ride my bike against traffic the same path the motorcycle got hit..
These new bike lanes are a mess..
43rd avenue used to be 2 way at 38th street? When‽
“I used to ride my bike against traffic.” Your credibility has been established.
You know what’s funny? On rare occasions I actually do bike the wrong way. But I am very aware that I’m the one doing something wrong, and act accordingly. Stay far from pedestrians, pull over and wait if there’s oncoming traffic, and if it’s too busy, just get off my bike and walk.
It certainly never would have occurred to me to blame someone else if I got injured or a ticket. And especially not how the street is designed. What’s next, getting into a crash while speeding and blaming the manufacturer for allowing their cars to go above 65mph?
Just like bicyclists driving the wrong way on one way streets, an all day/everyday occurrence in Sunnyside. Eventually one of these morons will injure someone.
Have you ever jaywalked or driven faster than the speed limit?
Tragic! My heart goes out to their families. This couldve just as well happened to anyone. Lets have solace in that they found love, and were loved!
Can happen to anyone?? Maybe you, but not me. I don’t go down one ways. I use my common sense.
From the video shown on NYPost, it looks as if van slowed down and pulled to its left on a one lane section of 43rd Avenue, but did not have any room because the street had been narrowed for bicycle lanes
The perverted mental gymnastics it takes to make these deaths about bike lanes…how sick are you anti bike lane people?
What a ridiculous comment. Most streets in the area are a single lane. So there should be no single lane roads because someone might go screaming down it the wrong way? This is a terribly tragic crash, using it to attack bike lanes that make people safer when those lanes have absolutely nothing to do with a driver speeding the wrong way is shameful and bizarre.
This is the fault of Jimmy Van Bramer. He’s the one who brought this idiocy to DOT. They decided to make 43rd Ave. and Skillman Avenue one lane so if something happens there’s nowhere to go. All of you insane bike nuts mostly young white able-bodied males who think bikes are the answer should give up criticizing people who think that automobiles have a place on This street and paying Huge fees and taxes to support street maintenance which bicycleists don’t do.
Recently while my daughter was driving on Skillman Avenue she was broadsided by a bicycle who yelled to her he was all right and left the scene of the accident w recently while my daughter was driving on Skillman Avenue she was broadsided by a bicyclist who yelled to her he was all right and left the scene of the accident And left her with $1700 worth of damage but he has no insurance. He went through a red light. Are you bicycle freaks going to pay for this damage? I’m sure you’ll never go into your pockets to help out someone whose car was damaged by a crazy bicyclist.
Agreed, Jimmy why did you force that blameless speeding motorcyclist to drive recklessly?!
A young couple was killed in a wrong-way crash in Queens early Saturday when their motorcycle slammed into a van, police said.
The 22-year-old motorcyclist, Steven Goddard — with his 20-year-old girlfriend Amy Gutierrez seated behind him — was whizzing down 43rd Avenue near 38th Street in Sunnyside against the flow of traffic around 3:30 a.m., cops said.
Suddenly, he crashed into a red Ford E250 van heading north on the one-way street.
The couple was pinned under the van, and suffered severe body trauma, cops said.
They were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where both were pronounced dead. Both were wearing helmets, cops said.
Gutierrez’s mother Juana Gutierrez, 42, was devastated.
“The doctor called me,” she told The Post in Spanish through a translator. “He said there was a crash. He said he was sorry and he wanted me to come and identify the body. I put on my clothes and went in a cab. When I saw her, I started crying. They gave me medication and it relaxes me.”
“When I saw her [at the hospital], I hugged her, I gave her lots of kisses all over her face,” Gutierrez said of her daughter, who wanted to be a criminal lawyer. “I touched her face. I ran my hand through her hair. I told her that ‘The Lord is with you.’ I said, ‘Give me the strength to be strong.’ Now I have the strength to carry on but it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be very hard.”
“Now, I won’t see her married or have children. It pains my heart. I had two daughters. Now I only have one.”
By Saturday afternoon, nine white candles with the words “RIP Amy and Steven” were placed at the corner where the crash happened.
The 27-year-old van driver remained on scene and refused medical attention.
No arrests were made, cops said.
On the sidewalk outside Goddard’s apartment building — only blocks from the scene — around 40 relatives and family members gathered and signed a large piece of cardboard with messages including “SKG + Amy,” “I love you both, sleep in peace,” and “Love you bro. Never be forgotten. You was the man!”
A bouquet of white carnations was also on the ground outside the building — as well as two bottles of Hennessy, one empty, the other full. A tender photo of the couple kissing was also left behind.
“They loved each other,” Goddard’s dad, also named Steven Goddard, said, gesturing toward the photo.
“Thank you everybody who came,” he told those gathered at the memorial. “Everyone here is my son’s friend. I’m a strong dude but this is different.”
“I tell him don’t ride the bike,” Goddard added. “I tell him, I tell him a hundred times.”
One of Amy’s cousins, Samuel Gutierrez, 21, said he couldn’t believe the news when he first heard what happened.
“I called around and asked more family members,” he said.
“I was in a state of shock, disbelief,” he added, shaking his head. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”
“There is going to be an empty hole in the family now that she is gone.”
How could anyone give a thumbs down
Love and support for the shattered families. A nightmare for everyone in our community. So heartbreaking. If we are older folks, most of us are fortunate we lived through our twenties, and there but for fate go all of us.
Wow those bike lanes really help !
Yes he was going the wrong way . But if that part was still a 2 lane street 2 lives could have bin saved .. yes I’m blaming the bike lanes .
why blame the bike lanes they were going down the street the wrong way and speeding.
Why don’t you go on new york post and see the video . He didn’t realize it was one lane before 38th st .
He went the wrong way. The number of lanes is irrelevant. Do you have any idea how many one-way, one-lane streets there are in the city? If that was the cause, we’d be seeing a LOT more of these types of crashes.
Also, it’s literally impossible for a video to show what he was thinking. It’s fine for you to speculate, but nothing in the video suggests your speculation is fact.
Reckless driving led to this. It’s a disgrace to blame a design that discourages dangerous driving.
The police need to crack down on these motorcycle gangs that tear through the area regularly. Have you no sense of decency?
Maybe it was an honest mistake that he went down the wrong way .. why don’t you go watch the video . NY post has it .. to me it looks like he was trying to avoid the crash but had no room to any where .. and yes you are disgusting ..
And the electric scooters driving on the sidewalks
Using that logic, the two lanes of parked cars were doubly responsible for this crash. Why not complain about that aspect of the street design?
We just started our route on the way to our first stop
There’s no mention of drugs in this article but that doesn’t stop you from making a false accusation, speaking ill of the dead, and fortifying your reputation as one of the most negative people to ever live in this community.
There was no mention anywhere, was there a toxicology report? Weed? No? Why ride so fast down wrong direcsion?
Do NOT walk by here. It is still cordoned off. The van is still there and you can see blood in the street. I feel so badly for the poor van driver. I hope he is okay and gets support for what he went through. It sounds like he is 100% innocent, but going through something like that can be very traumatic.
I was the passenger in the van