by David Greene 

One man is dead in an overnight car crash on Jerome Avenue in Bedford Park that split the car in half.

Rescue crews were called to the crash at 2:19 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, outside of Lehman College at Jerome Avenue between East 196 Street and Morris Avenue. 

According to one eyewitness, the silver 1999 Lexus was traveling at upwards of 80 miles per hour along the curved roadway, when the unidentified driver swerved to miss a bicyclist.

Investigators say the car struck one of the pillars of the elevated subway along Jerome Avenue, cutting the car in half. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim remained in the back portion of the vehicle in the middle of the street and the front section of the vehicle. “What I witnessed really messed with my head,” recalled one of two livery cab drivers traveling southbound on Jerome, who nearly slammed into the out-of-control vehicle head-on.

“He was going so fast that he wound up in our lane… hitting that pole,” said the witness.

Discounting the claim of a bicycle rider, the hack explained, “He was just speeding and he couldn’t control it,” adding that the driver was also traveling without headlights on.

“I’m grateful to be alive,” the driver added.

It’s unclear whether the deceased driver was intoxicated.