Officials say the crash happened at around 1 a.m. Tuesday near exit 13.
Investigators say that driver was going the wrong way for a distance of two exits. He ultimately hit another driver head on -- resulting in both of their deaths.
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Police say 52-year-old Winston Ramdeen of Queens was driving a black Infiniti eastbound in the westbound lanes, on the wrong side of the road, at 12:50 a.m. when he sideswiped several vehicles - and then hit a Nissan Sentra head on, causing the deaths of both himself and the other driver.
The alleged wrong-way driver and the 79-year-old man he drove into were both pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.
The gut wrenching sound of crushing metal in the middle of the night startled nearby residents.
"I'm not gonna lie, I didn't see it, the head-on collision, but from hearing it I knew it was crazy," a nearby resident said.
The crash shut down traffic down on the westbound side of the highway for several hours.
"That's a dangerous highway, it's not the first time I've heard of situations because sometimes people are speeding, it's really unfortunate," Brooklyn resident Doris Lewis said.
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Investigators are still trying to determine how and why the SUV driver started traveling the wrong way, and whether he was under the influence.
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