A man believed to be experiencing homelessness was left critically injured earlier today after a driver struck him along Interstate 35E in Dallas and fled without stopping. Police say the victim appeared to be collecting aluminum cans along the freeway when he was hit, and investigators are now asking the public for help identifying the driver responsible.
Dallas police officers responded to the crash just after 2:09 a.m. on the northbound South R.L. Thornton Freeway near the West Overton Road exit, according to FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth. Officers arrived to find a man lying critically injured in the roadway, with aluminum cans scattered across the nearby exit ramp. A passing motorist had spotted the victim and called 911, prompting the emergency response.
Investigators believe the man was gathering cans along the highway when he was struck, and they say the driver left him lying in the roadway before leaving the scene in the vehicle. Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital in critical condition. As of the report, authorities had not released his identity, and police had not made an arrest in connection with the crash.
Freeway Shut Down as Investigators Worked the Scene
The collision forced Dallas police to close all northbound lanes of South R.L. Thornton Freeway between Ledbetter Drive and Ann Arbor Avenue while crash reconstruction investigators worked the scene. Police are asking anyone with information about the vehicle or driver to come forward, and have provided incident number 26-1469150 for reference. Dallas police urged anyone with information to contact the department.
Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.021, a driver involved in a crash resulting in serious bodily injury who fails to stop and render aid commits a third-degree felony, according to Brian Hargrove Law, which can carry two to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000 once the fleeing driver is identified. Cases like this one often hinge on evidence gathered by crash reconstruction teams and tips from the public, since officers frequently lack an immediate vehicle description to work from.
A Familiar and Dangerous Pattern on Dallas Highways
This is far from an isolated incident on Dallas freeways. Two weeks ago, a person was killed while changing a tire in a hit-and-run on I-20, and in late July a pedestrian was killed on U.S. 175 near Buckner in a separate freeway collision — both incidents Hoodline has previously covered. In November 2021, Dallas County Sheriff's deputies arrested an 18-year-old driver in connection with a similar early-morning hit-and-run on I-35E that killed a pedestrian, according to CBS News Texas, showing that such cases can eventually be resolved with public tips and physical evidence.
The broader numbers underscore why these overnight freeway crashes keep happening. A 2026 study of TxDOT crash data found Dallas County recorded the highest traffic fatality rate among Texas' six largest counties in 2025, logging 280 traffic deaths, according to Angel Reyes & Associates. Pedestrians made up nearly a third of all Dallas traffic fatalities in 2024 despite representing just 1% of crashes statewide, per Texas Department of Transportation figures.
Vision Zero Efforts Haven't Reached the Highways
Dallas City Hall's Vision Zero data shows that 62% of crashes resulting in death or severe injury occur on a High Injury Network that makes up just 7% of the city's streets, a designation aimed at concentrating safety improvements where they're needed most. But interstates and exit ramps like the one near West Overton Road remain high-risk environments, particularly in the early-morning hours when visibility is low, and traffic moves fast. The Dallas Police Department's Traffic Unit has issued more than 1,600 citations in High Injury Network locations since 2021 as part of that enforcement push, though this crash occurred on a freeway corridor outside those designated zones.
The circumstances also point to a harder-to-solve problem: unhoused residents navigating high-speed corridors in search of recyclables to sell. In 2022, the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance fining people up to $500 for standing in narrow street medians, a measure city leaders framed as a pedestrian safety tool but which advocates argued unfairly targeted homeless individuals gathering near traffic, according to KERA News. That debate remains unresolved even as freeway-adjacent hit-and-runs continue to pile up across the city.
