Car of her dreams – and death
Fatally struck on hwy. as she stands beside broken-down vehicle
A Newark woman who had just proudly purchased a used car was standing helplessly on the side of a busy Bronx expressway next to the broken-down silver coupe that failed her — and led to her death Wednesday.
Keara Rosa, 27, was killed when a tractor-trailer slammed into the disabled vehicle, pinning her between her car and the overpass, police said.
She had just earned enough cash from her eyelash business and retail job to buy the 2002 Honda Civic two weeks ago — and gushed about the purchase in what would be her last Instagram post.
“Hard work pays off,” she wrote in all capital letters, followed by a red heart emoji. “Thank you god.”
Her roommate Dazhane, who declined to give her last name, said the silver Honda was the second car she ever owned.
“She was my best friend,” Dazhane, told the Daily News. “She was more than my best friend. She was like family.”
Rosa had pulled over onto the shoulder on the eastbound side of the Cross Bronx Expressway near Marmion Ave. in Crotona about 12:15 a.m., cops said.
She was trying to figure out what was wrong with her car when an out-of-control Freightliner slammed into the back of her car. The Honda was sent hurtling forward, pinning Rosa between the vehicle and the overpass wall, officials said. She died at the scene.
“[Rosa] has a very beautiful soul. She was outgoing and supportive of her friends,” Timina, another pal who declined to give her last name, said.
“She was a great mom,” the grieving friend added, noting Rosa had a young daughter. “This isn’t something that’s easy, getting a call that one of your loved ones has died in the middle of the night like that.”
The 55-year-old man driving the Freightliner was in the right lane of the three-lane highway, heading east, when he cut to the left to avoid slow traffic.
As he swerved, he lost control of the truck, striking two Toyotas and a Lexus before sideswiping the concrete divider between the east and westbound lanes, cops said.
The driver then swerved back to the right, hitting Rosa’s Honda.
The tractor-trailer driver wasn’t injured.
A 51-year-old man in the Toyota Corolla and a 58-yearold woman in the Lexus were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital with minor injuries. The 29year-old woman in the Toyota Camry was not injured.
Several lanes on the Cross Bronx Expressway were temporarily shut down as police investigated.
“She was a very good person,” Timina said. “She loved other people. She tried to do her best for everybody.”