A pre-dawn argument in a moving car turned into a roadside emergency in Eugene, Oregon, after a stepfather ordered his girlfriend's 16-year-old boyfriend out of the vehicle and onto the shoulder of Interstate 105, leaving the boy to walk home along the freeway. The teen girl, also 16, then got out and followed her boyfriend on foot, and the two ended up stranded on the shoulder near the Delta Highway interchange trying to flag down passing vehicles for help around 5 a.m.
According to KGW, police said the teen girl had called her mother and stepfather for a ride home, but the situation escalated when her boyfriend argued with the stepfather during the drive. The stepfather pulled the car over and told the boy to get out, then left him to walk home along the highway shoulder, police said. The girl followed him out of the car rather than stay behind with her parents.
A 911 caller reported seeing two teens on the shoulder of Interstate 105 near Delta Highway attempting to flag down passing cars, and Eugene police responded to that report and located the pair at the scene. It remains unclear exactly how long the teens were exposed on the highway before officers arrived, per the same account.
Reckless Endangerment Charges Filed Against Both Parents
Eugene police said both the mother and stepfather were cited on charges of reckless endangerment rather than taken into custody. Under Oregon Revised Statutes § 163.195, recklessly endangering another person is a Class A misdemeanor that occurs when someone recklessly engages in conduct creating a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person, according to the Oregon State Legislature. The statute defines recklessness as consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
If convicted, the parents could face up to 364 days in jail and a maximum fine of $6,250, the statutory ceiling for a Class A misdemeanor under ORS § 161.615 and § 161.635, as outlined by Romano Law. Oregon lawmakers trimmed the maximum Class A misdemeanor jail term from 365 to 364 days back in 2017 specifically to avoid triggering harsher federal immigration consequences for those convicted.
Officers cited both parents in lieu of taking them into physical custody, a option available to law enforcement under Oregon Revised Statutes § 133.055 for misdemeanor offenses. That statute lets officers issue a citation rather than book a suspect into jail, allowing the person to remain free while agreeing to appear in court later, provided officers judge that community safety allows for it.
Why a Freeway Shoulder Is Especially Dangerous
Forcing the teens onto the Interstate 105 shoulder wasn't just risky, it also ran contrary to Oregon traffic law. Oregon Revised Statutes § 814.070 bars pedestrians from walking along a highway roadway or shoulder where sidewalks exist, and freeway pedestrian traffic is restricted even further under ORS § 814.100, limited to narrow emergency exceptions such as occupants walking to the nearest exit from a disabled vehicle, according to guidance published by the Oregon Pedestrian Law resource.
Interstate 105 functions as a high-speed freeway spur linking downtown Eugene to Interstate 5, with posted speed limits reaching 60 mph in the stretch near the Delta Highway interchange, per data compiled by Oregonians for Speed Limit Reform. That combination of speed and narrow shoulder made the pre-dawn stretch of freeway an especially hazardous place for two teenagers on foot.
The interchange itself carries a documented history of crashes. Historical Oregon Department of Transportation tracking recorded 347 crashes resulting in 259 injuries across the Interstate 105 and Delta Highway interchange ramps over a five-year period, according to data reported by Associated Construction Publications. ODOT has since completed a multi-million-dollar Interstate 105 Bridge Preservation Project, modernizing aging freeway bridges and ramps near Delta Highway that date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Broader Push to Curb Dangerous Driving on I-105
The Eugene Police Department has treated the Interstate 105 corridor as an enforcement priority for months. In July 2025, the department's Traffic Safety Unit coordinated an interagency speed saturation patrol targeting high-complaint corridors that included Interstate 105, Delta Highway, and Beltline Road, combining city, county, and state police resources.
That focus reflects wider patterns in Eugene traffic safety. Local records show that in 2025, 70 percent of fatal traffic crashes in the city occurred on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or higher, and all five pedestrian traffic fatalities that year involved alcohol or drug impairment, according to the Register-Guard. The city has also folded high-speed corridors like Interstate 105 into its Vision Zero initiative, through which the Eugene City Council and Public Works Department fund high-crash intersection studies and targeted police enforcement missions aimed at protecting pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.
It remains unresolved whether the Lane County District Attorney's Office will formally pursue the Class A misdemeanor charges against the mother and stepfather, and it is not known whether child protective services was notified about the safety of the 16-year-old daughter. Police have not said whether either teen suffered any physical harm during the time they spent exposed on the freeway shoulder before officers found them.
