WHITESONE, Queens (PIX11) -- It was a deeply tragic start to the new year for the families of five people killed in a horrific crash on one of the busiest highways in the Tri-state region.
"They call it "Dead Man's Curve,'" said Colleen Reichart, who said that she has lived near the junction of the Cross Island Parkway and Whitestone Expressway for 53 years. "People don't know how to drive, especially on slick roads," she added.
It is not clear what the cause of the crash was, but the roadway was wet when a dark gray Mazda flipped over, killing the driver, and all four passengers inside. The vehicle remained belly-up at the scene from the time of the crash, around 5:56 a.m., until crews were able to right the vehicle hours later, after removing the bodies.
The Mazda hit another car, a white Honda SUV, totaling it, in the collision.
Despite that, the Honda driver's health status is listed as stable by the police and fire departments.
The curve, which connects the Cross Island Parkway and Whitestone Expressway just south of the Whitestone Bridge, has been the scene of many crashes over the years, said Reichart, the resident who has lived in the area for more than half a century.
"We can hear it" from her nearby home, Reichart said. When crashes do happen, she said that residents talk about it among themselves immediately.
"Like, 'There's an accident on the Cross Island,'" she said they tell one another, and then she made a screeching sound, like the ones local residents hear when there is an impact.
Tina Bon, who also lives near the interchange, said that she has had experience with the dangers the place holds.
"I know a couple of people that got into a very bad accident along this same stretch of road," she said.
Despite that, she added, the New Year's Day crash was on another level.
"I've never seen anything like this," Bon said. "I'm shaking, I'm a little shaken up."
The scene, at which officers had to cover each of the five bodies in sheets, was bloody. Technicians from the medical examiner's office removed the bodies one by one.
It was a grisly sight that some people who live nearby said does not surprise them too much.
"This road is very dangerous, very, very dangerous," said Renato Marangoni, who lives near the junction, and has driven through it. "[You] slip all over."
Other local drivers, like Mario Ramirez, say that unsafe drivers are typically at fault for the danger that they have witnessed.
"I come in 1:00 in the morning," Ramirez said, describing a recent hazardous incident at the interchange, involving cars racing. "Two people, maybe crazy, in the front of me," he continued, "tried to pass one in front of the other one."
Traffic investigators spent hours in both directions of the interchange trying to figure out speed, road wetness, and other conditions during the collision, while also reaching out to the families of the five victims.
The victims have not been officially identified. The police department said it will not release names until the families of all victims are contacted.
The city's Department of Transportation controls the highway junction. It had no comment about the safety of the location. The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
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