Car Crash Kills Two Stuyvesant Students

Sad news from one of our Stuyvesant tipsters this morning: "I'm a Stuyvesant student and today we lost two of our students in a car accident. They were Kevin Kwan, a junior, and April Lao, a freshman. Both were on the swim team and were attending a swim meet. The news link is below. This is very horrific and troubling for all of us and we would greately appreciate it if you post this on gothamist. You really dont think about such seemingly every day deaths until its someone right next to you. Thanks for taking the time to read this."

The car crash was widely covered in the news yesterday, but the Stuyvesant link wasn't reported until last night. Apparently the students and their parents were driving from Queens to Buffalo to compete in a YMCA swim-meet. The van got a flat tire, and instead of pulling off to the shoulder, the driver (Kevin's mother) stopped in the right-lane and put on the blinkers. She got out, checked the tire, and a few seconds after she returned to her seat, a truck plowed into the van. Kevin, his mother, and brother were killed instantly-- April died at Westchester Medical Center. Her mother and brother were injured but survived. The Times has a very detailed report:

When the police arrived, some of the van's passengers, apparently ejected, lay on the shoulder of the highway. Backpacks, school books and a sneaker were strewn about the accident site, along with mangled pieces of the van.
"The van was ripped in half," said Capt. Edward Raso of the New York State Police. "The driver's side was sheared off. It was not a pleasant scene."

Stuycom has lots of reaction from students, and the Post, Daily News, and WNBC all have articles. Very sad.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jake Dobkin in News on March 18, 2006 10:58 AM

Comments [rss]

dennis

Kevin was a sophomore, sorry for the mistake..

Shunpei

I knew both of them. I swam with both of them. All i see are posts about bad asian drivers and crap like that. Have some respect for these kids. They were people just like you and me. You dont know how much it hurts to see this and then to see what you reades get from an event like this. A life is a precious thing. Death is indiscriminant. All the cliches suddenly make sense. Please, for my sake, for the families' sake, have some respect.

asdf

Correction: Kevin Kwan is a sophomore, not a junior.

Karen

On the news, out of Buffalo (near me), they said that a lot of folks here were pretty upset when they got word of the accident. What a horrible thing to happen.

erika!

sa

a moment before - a mundane stop.

a bag of fritos or a bored highway view of trees and lights. flippity flap of a cheap tires pop.

at any moment something can happen, like a comet crash. smashing metal and unspeakable acts upon the human body. its an insane predicament to be in as humans. insane. the only way to function is to pretend its untrue.

we may have been better off before we discovered fire and became too attached to living.

drive safe.....postpone violent death.

Toby

It should be noted that that stretch of the Thruway has had several fatal accidents in the past few months.

nisey79

typo: car, not card

nisey79

Mishka, it is important to note that the truck driver did not see the car stopped in the roadway until it was too late--the card did not even have its flashers on; in fact:

"A witness to the crash who was traveling in the center lane told police he didn't see the disabled minivan until he was right behind it."

--from www.th-record.com

I grew up in this area; this stretch of the Thruway is a frequent accident site.

S.D.

Really, Don't Feed the Trolls.

Back on topic; This is really tragic. My condolences to the family and friends of these people.

mishka

It doesn't help when truck drivers are asleep at the wheel, either.

Not pulling over to the shoulder/not paying attention to what's ahead of you: Bad combination, a terrible accident waiting to happen.

Faye

Have a little decency at least. If you want to insult Asian drivers, go do it somewhere else. To make a racist joke on a topic like this is just rude.

ju

never mind. i guess everyone is going to snatch at the opportunity to be racist here. have fun, kids.

ju

to the 2nd commenter, way to be a ridiculous bastard. i guess you need a few people around YOU to be killed before you can tell when is not the right time to insert some immature jokes.

Toby

This is a tragic accident that could have been prevented. I think that most people know you never ever stop in the middle of an busy highway, you always pull over.