Paulina Rodriguez died after she drove her car into a Queens intersection and was crushed by a speeding Mercedes early Sunday, cops and witnesses said.

A 24-year-old woman died after she drove her car into a Queens intersection and was crushed by a speeding Mercedes early Sunday, cops and witnesses said.
The victim, Paulina Rodriguez, was driving a 2011 Hyundai sedan north on 227th St. in Cambria Heights around 2:45 a.m. when she approached the intersection at 115th Ave., police said.

Rodriguez, who lived on nearby 201st St., ran a stop sign at the intersection and plowed into a 2012 Honda Civic traveling east on 115th Ave., cops said.

As the two vehicles came to a halt in the intersection, a 2007 Mercedes Benz barreling behind the Honda slammed into the driver’s side door of Rodriguez’s car, killing her.

“It sounded like an explosion,” said Donovan Smallwood, 24, who was walking toward 115th Ave. when the accident occurred. “It looked like the Honda and Mercedes were racing side-by-side.”

Donovan insisted Rodriguez had stopped her vehicle before the intersection. “She inched out to look both ways and got hit.”

But the Mercedes driver, Jackie Knight, disputed that account. Cops slapped him with a summons for speeding.

"She didn't stop at the sign," said Knight, 25. "She just came right out into the street and I saw the Honda - who was ahead of me - swerve.”

"All I could do was slam on my brakes," Knight said. “I thought for a few seconds that I was gonna die.”

Authorities rushed Rodriguez to Franklin General Hosptial, where she died. A 19-year-old girl in her Hyundai was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital and was in stable condition, sources said.

Knight and the Honda driver, who was not identified, both refused medical attention at the scene, police said.