A 25-year-old man died early last Friday after being struck by a car while walking in the northbound lane of S. Clay Street near Darling Drive in Coldwater, according to police. The pedestrian was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 12:29 a.m., and investigators say they are still working to confirm his identity before releasing further details.
According to a statement from Coldwater Public Safety Police & Fire, a 41-year-old Coldwater woman was driving a 2022 Kia Sorento northbound on S. Clay Street when she struck the man as he was in the roadway last Thursday night. Coldwater Police requested help from a traffic crash reconstructionist with the Michigan State Police, and the case remains under investigation as officers work to piece together exactly how the crash unfolded.
The response drew in several agencies, with the Coldwater Fire Department, the Branch County Sheriff's Office, the Coldwater Department of Municipal Services, and LifeCare Ambulance all assisting Coldwater Police at the scene, per the department's account. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Officer Kaden Hisel or D/Sgt. Sarah Gunnenman, both reachable at 517-278-4525.
A Department Still Reeling From Loss
The crash comes during an unusually difficult stretch for Coldwater's public safety leadership. Just 11 days earlier, Director of Public Safety Joseph Scheid died unexpectedly at age 54 after 29 years with the department, according to the City of Coldwater. With that vacancy still fresh, Deputy Chief Patrick Beeman is listed as the point of contact for the fatal crash investigation, effectively helping guide the department's public-facing response during the transition.
Insight Hospital and Medical Center Coldwater, where the pedestrian was taken, is the primary hospital serving Branch County. The 87-bed, Level IV trauma facility operated for years as ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital before Flint-based Insight Health System acquired it in December 2024, WTVB reported at the time.
Late-Night Pedestrian Deaths Are Climbing Statewide
The Coldwater crash, which happened around 11:30 p.m., fits a pattern flagged in state safety data: the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning has found that more than 80% of car-pedestrian collisions resulting in death or injury occur between 6 p.m. and midnight. That timing risk has taken on new weight this year, as Michigan State Police crash data released this month showed statewide pedestrian fatalities jumped 18% in 2025, rising to 184 deaths from 156 the year before, even as overall traffic deaths in the state declined 3%, according to CBS Detroit.
State crash records also show that non-intersection roadway crossings — like the stretch of S. Clay Street where Thursday's crash happened — accounted for 34% of all pedestrian fatalities across Michigan in 2024. The corridor near Darling Drive sits in a commercial and industrial section of Coldwater's south side, home to the Branch Area Transit Authority headquarters and parcels near I-69, according to state procurement records.
Under Michigan Vehicle Code section MCL 257.655, pedestrians walking along a roadway without sidewalks are required to walk on the left side facing oncoming traffic, per the Detroit Greenways Coalition. Drivers, meanwhile, carry their own statutory duty of care toward pedestrians under state law. It remains unclear from the available details exactly how those rules bear on Thursday's crash, and police have not released findings on that question.
State Pushes New Safety Campaign as Deaths Mount
The rise in pedestrian deaths has prompted a state response. In December 2025, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning launched its “SAFER by 2030” initiative, aiming for a 30% cut in traffic deaths by the end of the decade through heavier enforcement and public safety campaigns focused on vulnerable road users, as reported by WSJM.
Branch County has seen a string of serious vehicle emergencies this year, including two separate early-2026 crashes in which cars ran off Centennial Road and submerged in Coldwater Lake, each requiring emergency water rescues. The region has also dealt with other severe collisions in recent years, among them a wrong-way, head-on crash on I-69 in October 2025 and a double-fatality crash on Marshall Road in nearby Girard Township back in June 2022.
For now, Coldwater Police say the investigation into Thursday's crash continues as they work to confirm the victim's identity. Officer Hisel and D/Sgt. Gunnenman are asking anyone with information to come forward as the Michigan State Police reconstruction moves ahead.
