Kia Rolls Onto I-94 Median After Sideswiping Metro Transit Bus, Driver Hospitalized

A pre-dawn crash on Interstate 94 near Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis sent a Kia Soul rolling onto the freeway median Thursday morning after it sideswiped a Metro Transit bus, hospitalizing the car's driver and briefly snarling eastbound traffic.

The crash happened at 5:46 a.m. Thursday when the Kia Soul and the Metro Transit bus sideswiped each other, according to KSTP-TV. The impact sent the Kia rolling over before it came to rest on the median, the station reported. The Minnesota State Patrol reported the crash and the resulting hospitalization.

The Kia's driver, identified as 25-year-old Jason Escamilla of San Antonio, Texas, was hospitalized following the rollover, per the outlet's reporting. Escamilla was cited for careless driving, the station noted. Traffic camera footage cited in the report showed emergency vehicles positioned in the left lane next to the overturned Kia as crews worked the scene.

What Careless Driving Means Under Minnesota Law

The citation issued to Escamilla falls under Minnesota Statute § 169.13, Subdivision 2, which defines careless driving as operating or halting a vehicle on a street or highway in a manner that heedlessly disregards the rights of others or endangers people or property, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. Unlike reckless driving, careless driving does not require proof that a driver consciously or willfully disregarded a known risk, a distinction that matters for how the case could ultimately be resolved.

The crash caused a slight delay in the I-94 eastbound lanes before first responders cleared the scene, the station reported. It remains unclear whether any passengers were aboard the Metro Transit bus at the time of the collision, and the extent of Escamilla's injuries has not been detailed publicly.

A Freeway Corridor With a History of Crashes

The stretch of I-94 through Minneapolis has drawn scrutiny before. A Minnesota Department of Transportation safety evaluation recorded 914 crashes along the corridor between 2016 and 2019, with rear-end and lane-departure collisions contributing to crash rates that exceed the statewide freeway average, according to MnDOT. The agency has since conducted ongoing environmental and design studies aimed at potential safety reconfigurations along the route.

Sideswipe collisions like Thursday's are a recognized hazard when passenger vehicles interact with large transit buses, which carry significant blind spots and wide profiles that elevate the risk during lane changes or merges, per an analysis from the Dugas Law Firm. Federal data cited in that research indicates same-direction sideswipe collisions account for more than 10 percent of serious multi-vehicle crashes involving large commercial or transit vehicles nationwide.

Metro Transit, operated by the Metropolitan Council, runs an active fleet of 916 buses and logged more than 45 million passenger boardings in 2025, carrying between 90 and 95 percent of all public transit riders in the Twin Cities metro area, according to Wikipedia. Under federal rules governing safety-sensitive transit positions, bus operators involved in qualifying accidents are subject to mandatory post-accident drug and alcohol testing, a standard protocol designed to confirm operator fitness following major incidents.

Part of a Broader Pattern on Minneapolis Streets

Thursday's crash adds to a broader picture of traffic risk in Minneapolis. Motor vehicle collisions within city limits resulted in 20 traffic fatalities and nearly 2,000 non-fatal injuries in 2022, with more than 1,300 victims requiring emergency medical evaluation or ambulance transport, according to Safe Roads USA. Speeding and improper lane changes were cited among the leading contributing factors that year.

The city's 2026 Vision Zero safety analysis found that 64 percent of fatal and serious-injury crashes between 2020 and 2024 occurred on just 10 percent of Minneapolis streets designated as high-injury corridors, per the City of Minneapolis. The same city data shows traffic collisions disproportionately affect minority residents, with Black residents accounting for 41 percent of vehicle crash fatalities despite making up 19 percent of the city's population, a disparity city planners say informs where safety investments are prioritized.

Statewide, the trend has moved in a more encouraging direction. Minnesota recorded 370 preliminary traffic fatalities in 2025, a 20 percent drop from 475 deaths the year before and the lowest annual toll since 2019, according to ThatCarHitMe.com. State officials credited part of the decline to $12 million in legislative funding for infrastructure improvements and targeted enforcement. Whether Thursday's crash prompts a broader accident reconstruction review, as has happened following other severe Metro Transit bus collisions in the past, remains to be seen.