A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle early Saturday morning near the Alameda Street off-ramp on the eastbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway, on the outskirts of Downtown Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol reported the crash occurred at about 6:30 a.m., involving a green Toyota Sienna.
According to MyNewsLA.com, authorities had no other immediate information available about the victim or the circumstances that put them on the freeway. The CHP issued a SigAlert following the crash, and the Alameda Street off-ramp remained closed for at least two hours before the roadway was cleared at 10:39 a.m. Separate incident logging from the Pacific Attorney Group concerns a different crash and does not provide matching information about this fatality.
It is not the first time this exact stretch of freeway has turned deadly in the early morning hours. Back on October 14, 2022, a fatal crash at the very same Alameda Street exit prompted a CHP investigation and blocked two lanes, according to CBS Los Angeles.
A Pattern of Pre-Dawn Freeway Deaths
Saturday's fatality occurred on the 10 Freeway in Downtown LA. A separate Hoodline report concerned a Compton Alameda Street hit-and-run.
The open question in both cases is why the victims were on the freeway at all. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21960, pedestrians are generally barred from walking on controlled-access freeways, with one narrow exception: drivers or passengers of disabled vehicles are permitted to walk to the nearest exit on their side of the highway to seek repairs or call for help, according to FindLaw. Whether Saturday's victim was a stranded motorist or had entered the freeway some other way remains unclear.
Freedom to Walk Act Doesn't Apply to Freeways
Some readers may recall that California decriminalized jaywalking on standard streets under the Freedom to Walk Act, Assembly Bill 2147, which took effect January 1, 2023. But that law did not touch the freeway pedestrian ban under CVC 21960, according to Krasney Law. Freeways remain off-limits to foot traffic except in that narrow disabled-vehicle scenario.
Downtown's Deadliest Corridor
The Alameda Street corridor itself, a major freight and commercial artery linking Downtown LA to South L.A.'s industrial zones, has seen its own string of fatal pedestrian incidents. Just over a week before Saturday's crash, a hit-and-run in Compton killed 39-year-old Julio Munoz on Alameda Street before dawn on September 2, as previously covered by Compton Hit-and-Run Kills Julio Munoz, 39.
The timing of Saturday's death fits a broader statistical pattern. Los Angeles County led California with 273 pedestrian fatalities in 2023. Separately, a roughly 75 percent nighttime figure has been reported for fatal pedestrian crashes statewide. Citywide, traffic collisions killed 290 people in Los Angeles in 2025, including more than 150 pedestrians.
City transportation planners have long identified where that danger concentrates. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation's Vision Zero initiative found that 65 percent of all severe and fatal collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists occur on just 6 percent of city street miles, a stretch of roadway known as the High Injury Network.
What Happens Next
The SigAlert system that shut down the off-ramp for over two hours traces back to 1955, when it was created in Los Angeles by radio executive Loyd C. Sigmon. CHP issues the alerts whenever an unplanned incident blocks a traffic lane for 30 minutes or more, a standard protocol that played out again Saturday as investigators worked the scene.
No further details on the victim's identity or the events leading up to the crash have been released.
