Two men were struck and killed by a semi tractor-trailer while inspecting a flat tire on the shoulder of Eastbound Interstate 94 in Marengo Township on Tuesday morning, closing the highway for more than 12 hours as crews reconstructed the scene and cleared rollover debris. A third occupant who stayed seated inside the disabled pickup truck during the collision was not injured.
According to WTVB, the crash happened around 9 a.m. near 22 ½ Mile Road when two motorists pulled their truck onto the shoulder to inspect a flat tire. The Michigan State Police Marshall Post reported that the eastbound semi tractor-trailer struck the two men on the shoulder, and the collision caused the commercial semi-truck to roll over. The motorists killed were identified as a 51-year-old man from Grabill, Indiana, and a 40-year-old man from Aurora, Illinois; both were pronounced dead at the scene, while the commercial semi-truck driver sustained minor injuries.
Third Occupant Stayed Inside, Escaped Unharmed
Michigan State Police confirmed that while the two men stepped onto the shoulder to look at the flat tire, the truck's driver chose to remain seated inside the vehicle throughout the collision, according to WZZM 13. That decision appears to have made the difference between life and death, since the two men who exited the vehicle did not survive.
In the aftermath, Michigan State Police Fifth District Public Information Officer Lt. DuWayne Robinson issued a public safety warning, urging motorists who experience trouble on busy freeways to stay inside their vehicles with seatbelts fastened and call for help rather than stepping out onto the shoulder. State police highlighted that exiting a vehicle on an active interstate shoulder poses an extreme hazard given the volume of high-speed commercial and passenger traffic passing through the corridor.
Drugs, Alcohol Ruled Out as Investigation Continues
Preliminary investigative reports from the Michigan State Police Marshall Post indicate that drugs and alcohol were not factors in the fatal collision, per 92.7 The Light. The commercial semi-truck driver was reported to have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. It remains unclear why the semi-truck veered onto the shoulder, and whether charges will be filed once state police complete their crash reconstruction.
Michigan State Police shut down the interstate at Exit 115 in Calhoun County and rerouted traffic onto local roads while crews worked the scene, per the same account from WTVB. Eastbound I-94 remained closed for more than 12 hours, causing lengthy delays for drivers throughout the corridor.
Part of a Troubling Statewide Trend
The crash fits into a broader pattern flagged by state highway safety officials. Commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities in Michigan rose 16% in 2025, climbing from 110 deaths in 2024 to 128 last year, according to data released by the State of Michigan as part of its SAFER by 2030 campaign. Pedestrian fatalities statewide also jumped 18%, from 156 in 2024 to 184 in 2025, even as overall traffic deaths dropped 3% — a trend officials say reflects growing risk for people who become pedestrians after leaving their vehicles on public roadways.
Michigan's Move Over Law requires drivers approaching stationary emergency or authorized service vehicles with flashing lights to change lanes or slow to at least 10 mph below the posted speed limit, with violations carrying a $400 civil fine and two license points. Penalties escalate to felony charges carrying up to 15 years in prison if a violation results in the death of emergency response personnel, the state notes.
Research Shows Shoulders Are Especially Dangerous
National research underscores why the men's decision to step onto the shoulder proved so dangerous. A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 89% of fatal roadside worker and assistance crashes occur on roadways with speed limits of 55 mph or higher, mostly on interstates and limited-access highways, with 63% of those crashes involving vehicles that drifted completely onto the shoulder before impact. Nationally, roughly 12% of all interstate highway deaths — about 600 fatalities per year — occur on highway shoulders during emergency stops, according to AAA Foundation research cited by Eckell Sparks.
This stretch of I-94 has seen severe crashes before. In April 2023, a wrong-way crash involving a pickup truck and a minivan on the same corridor in Marengo Township killed three people, including a 4-year-old child. Calhoun County recorded 4,231 total motor vehicle collisions in 2022, resulting in 23 fatalities and 654 injuries, according to local traffic analysis from Olsman MacKenzie Peacock, which identifies the I-94 commercial shipping corridor as a frequent site of severe heavy-vehicle collisions.
Crews reconstructed the crash scene and cleared debris from the rollover before reopening the highway, per WTVB's report. Hoodline has previously covered another I-94 Move Over crash in Romulus, as well as a separate fatal shoulder incident in Ann Arbor Township in which a detached tire struck and killed a Dearborn Heights man. Tuesday's crash adds another entry to a corridor that state police and local investigators continue to flag as a high-risk zone for motorists who leave their vehicles on the shoulder.
