Westchester County, NY — May 14, 2025, Four people were killed following a car accident that occurred at around 4:45 P.M. on Taconic State Pkwy.

An investigation is underway following a car accident that left four people dead and injured another during the afternoon hours of May 14th. According to official reports, a Dodge Promaster van occupied by Odenis Martinez, Harrison Reyes and Bryan Castillo, and Yader Reyes was traveling on the Taconic State Parkway in the southbound lanes, when for unknown reasons the vehicle crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes where it collided with a Honda Accord before then catching fire.

When first responders arrived on the scene, they found that Martinez, Harrison Reyes, and Castillo had sustained fatal injuries along with the Honda driver, Rob Violante and they were pronounced deceased. The driver of the van, Yader Reyes, was transported to the hospital in critical condition. At this time there has been no further information released from the accident, including the status of Reyes' injuries or what caused the van to lose control, however this remains an ongoing investigation and more details may be released by authorities in the future.

Commentary

When a crash claims multiple lives, people naturally look for answers. But the hardest part is knowing where to start. While it's easy to focus on the outcome, the real work lies in understanding the chain of events that led up to it. In my experience, that means asking critical questions that often go overlooked in the immediate aftermath.

First, did the authorities thoroughly investigate the crash?
A van crossing the median and hitting oncoming traffic is not just a complex event—it’s an unusual one. That kind of loss of control raises questions that require more than surface-level answers. What were the road conditions at the time? Was there anything in the median or on the roadway that caused the driver to swerve? Did the investigators examine all tire marks, vehicle positions, and environmental factors? Crashes on parkways can be particularly complex due to narrow lanes, limited shoulders, and varying terrain. If the investigation stopped at establishing that a van crossed the center line, it may not have gone far enough to explain why that happened.

Second, has anyone looked into the possibility that a vehicle defect caused the crash?
The Dodge Promaster is a commercial-style van, and vehicles like this are often subject to heavy use. That increases the chances of mechanical issues like tire blowouts, steering problems, or brake failures. Even something as seemingly minor as uneven weight distribution can affect how the van handles at highway speeds. And then there's the fire. A post-crash fire suggests potential failures in the fuel or electrical systems, which should not be ignored. These aren’t the kinds of problems that show up in a routine visual inspection—they require a detailed mechanical review. If that hasn’t been done, there’s still a lot we don’t know.

Third, has all the electronic data relating to the crash been collected?
Both vehicles involved likely had onboard systems capable of storing critical pre-crash data—like speed, steering input, braking force, and safety system activation. This kind of information can help reconstruct the sequence of events with precision. Was the van speeding? Did the driver try to correct the path? Was the crash unavoidable from the other driver's perspective? That data holds the answers. But if it wasn’t downloaded quickly, especially from the Promaster which sustained major damage and caught fire, it may already be lost. That’s a risk no investigation should take, especially in a case involving this level of harm.

In crashes like this, finding the truth isn’t just about understanding what happened in one moment—it’s about uncovering all the factors that contributed to it. That means looking at the vehicle, the road, and the data. When four lives are lost, the least we can do is make sure every possible explanation is explored.

Key Takeaways:

• A van crossing a median raises serious questions about road conditions and vehicle control that need in-depth investigation.
• Vehicle defects—including steering, tire failure, or fire risk—must be considered and inspected closely.
• Electronic crash data should be collected quickly to preserve key evidence about both vehicles’ behavior before impact.