Motorcycle Rider Killed in East Elmhurst Crash With Two SUV Drivers
Police identified Chris Guachichulca, 26, as the motorcycle rider killed at Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Avenue after he hit a turning BMW SUV and a Mazda SUV driver then hit him.
What We Know
Chris Guachichulca, 26, was riding a 2013 Suzuki motorcycle south on Ditmars Boulevard near 31st Avenue on the evening of Oct. 8, 2023, when police said he crashed into the passenger side of a 2013 BMW SUV whose driver was making a left turn. Police said Guachichulca was thrown to the roadway and a 2018 Mazda SUV driver traveling north then hit him. EMS took him to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Queens, where he was pronounced dead. The city crash record listed unsafe speed and failure to yield right-of-way as contributing factors, and police said the Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad continued the investigation.
Police described a chain-reaction crash on Ditmars Boulevard
Police said officers responding just before 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2023, found the 26-year-old motorcycle rider on the roadway at Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Avenue with severe head and body trauma. EMS took him to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Queens, where he was pronounced dead.
A preliminary NYPD investigation found that the rider was traveling south on Ditmars Boulevard on a 2013 Suzuki motorcycle when he hit the passenger side of a 2013 BMW SUV whose driver was making a left turn onto 31st Avenue. Police said the rider was thrown to the pavement, and a 2018 Mazda SUV driver traveling north on Ditmars Boulevard then hit him.
Chris Guachichulca was the rider who died
Police identified the rider as Chris Guachichulca, 26, of Shirley in Suffolk County. The city crash record also recorded one motorist killed and no other injuries.
Police said the two SUV drivers remained at the scene and were not injured.
The intersection sits on a Queens corridor with repeated harm
The crash happened at Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Avenue in East Elmhurst, Queens. CrashCountNYC's street context for 31st Avenue in Queens records 799 crashes, 527 injuries, 25 serious injuries and 3 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
City records flagged speed and failure to yield
The city crash record listed unsafe speed and failure to yield right-of-way as contributing factors. In the vehicle-level record, unsafe speed was recorded for the motorcycle rider.
Police said the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad continued the investigation.