A woman was left with life-threatening injuries late Thursday after a driver struck her on Reisterstown Road in Pikesville and sped off toward Owings Mills, leaving Baltimore County Police searching for a heavily damaged black car. The incident occurred on September 24, and officers found the pedestrian badly hurt; first responders took her to a nearby hospital.
According to Patch, Pikesville officers located the woman suffering from life-threatening injuries, and first responders took her to a hospital. As reported by FOX45 News, the suspect vehicle is described as a black car with significant front-end and windshield damage, last seen heading toward Owings Mills. Police are asking anyone with information to call 410-887-4636.
A Dangerous Stretch of MD 140
The crash unfolded along a heavily traveled commercial section of MD 140, a corridor Maryland transportation officials classify as high-risk. The road carries up to 36,000 vehicles daily, while a separate long-range projection estimates traffic will rise from 75,600 vehicles per day in 2026 to 108,200 by 2046, per Hoodline's earlier reporting on the corridor's safety fixes following the MTA bus crash. That density, paired with wide multi-lane travel paths and long gaps between crosswalks, has made Reisterstown Road a persistent flashpoint for pedestrian danger.
This is not the first serious incident to hit the corridor this year. In July, a runaway MTA bus struck multiple vehicles between Old Court Road and McHenry Avenue before crashing into a storefront, injuring more than 30 people, according to the same Hoodline report. Local residents have previously flagged nearby intersections along the road as especially hazardous.
Felony Exposure If Driver Is Caught
Under Maryland Transportation Code § 20-102, a driver involved in a collision resulting in bodily injury who fails to remain at the scene faces felony charges carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, a penalty that rises to up to ten years if the victim dies, according to Drew Cochran Attorney at Law. Maryland law requires drivers involved in injury crashes to remain at the scene regardless of who caused the collision. A conviction under that statute also triggers mandatory license revocation by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration under § 16-205, per the Maryland General Assembly's statute text.
If the injured woman later pursues civil action, she would face a steep legal hurdle unique to Maryland. The state enforces a strict common-law rule of pure contributory negligence, which bars an injured pedestrian found even one percent at fault for a collision from recovering damages from a driver, as Hoodline detailed in its coverage of a separate downtown Baltimore hit-and-run. Maryland is one of only five U.S. jurisdictions still maintaining that standard.
Pedestrian Safety Along Reisterstown Road
Thursday's crash adds to concerns about pedestrian safety along Reisterstown Road.
A pedestrian died after being struck on Reisterstown Road. Statewide, preliminary data released by Governor Wes Moore's office showed Maryland traffic deaths dropped 18% from 2024 to 2025, to 480 total, with pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities falling 33% from 173 to 116 over the same period. Zero Deaths Maryland's year-to-date tracker shows 312 fatalities recorded as of Thursday, down from 365 during the same period in 2025. Even so, high-density arterials like Reisterstown Road continue to produce severe pedestrian crashes, underscoring why investigators are moving quickly to track down the black car and the driver behind the wheel.
