A 25-year-old man was struck by a vehicle in the area of Lexington Avenue and East 65th Street in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, leaving him in critical condition, according to Cleveland EMS. Paramedics transported him to University Hospitals following the crash, and police have not yet released details about what led up to the collision.
The preliminary information comes from EMS and is still developing, as reported by Cleveland 19 News, whose digital content producer, Ashley Pomplas, wrote that the outlet had reached out to Cleveland police for more information. It remains unclear whether the driver stayed at the scene, whether speed or visibility contributed to the crash, or whether the Cleveland Division of Police's Accident Investigation Unit will pursue charges — questions that typically fall to that unit, which handles crash scene reconstructions and gathers surveillance evidence in severe vehicular collisions.
The intersection sits within Cleveland's historic Hough neighborhood on the city's East Side, an area served by the Cleveland Division of Police's Third District. The man was taken to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which operates an American College of Surgeons-verified Level I Trauma Center — the highest designation for emergency and trauma care in Ohio — with 24-hour in-house surgical and critical care teams for life-threatening injuries.
What Ohio Law Says About Yielding and Fleeing the Scene
Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.46 requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within a crosswalk when traffic signals are absent or not working, including slowing or stopping when necessary. Separately, under Ohio Revised Code Section 4549.02, a driver who fails to stop after a crash causing serious physical harm can face a fifth-degree felony charge along with a mandatory license suspension, hit-skip cases that result in death can escalate to a third-degree felony. It is not yet known whether either statute applies here, since the driver's actions after the crash have not been confirmed.
A Neighborhood Already Targeted for Traffic Fixes
Lexington Avenue and the surrounding Hough streets have already drawn attention from city and Ward 8 officials, who have proposed mini-roundabouts and speed tables under the city's Vision Zero and Cleveland Moves initiatives, according to Signal Cleveland. Ward 8 community meetings have focused specifically on infrastructure changes meant to improve pedestrian safety along the corridor.
The crash also lands amid a rough stretch for pedestrian and cyclist safety across Cleveland. In 2024, at least 603 people were hit by motorists while walking or biking in the city, an increase over prior years according to an analysis from Bike Cleveland. City crash dashboard data from Vision Zero Cleveland shows an average of 414 people killed or severely injured in traffic collisions annually between 2020 and 2025, part of the reasoning behind the city's 2022 Vision Zero Action Plan aiming to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2032.
Part of a String of Recent Crashes
This collision follows a series of severe traffic incidents across Cleveland this month, including an Eddy Road hit-and-run last Friday that left a rider in critical condition with the driver still at large, and an August 16 crash on I-90 that killed a 35-year-old pedestrian. Those incidents add to a broader pattern this year of highway and arterial pedestrian strikes across the city within short timeframes.
No further details have been released about the condition of the 25-year-old man or the identity of the driver involved. Hoodline will update this story as police release additional information.
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