A woman was hospitalized in critical condition Friday night after a vehicle exiting Southeast Loop 410 struck her while she was walking on the highway, San Antonio police say. The crash happened around 8 p.m. in the 1000 block of Southeast Loop 410, in a stretch of roadway where pedestrians are legally barred from being present.
According to KSAT, the vehicle was traveling south while exiting the highway when the woman was crossing in front of it. The driver attempted to brake but was unable to stop before the vehicle collided with her, police told the outlet. She was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, and SAPD said no criminal elements were identified in connection with the crash, the station's report notes. Under Texas Transportation Code Section 552.006 and Section 545.065, pedestrians are prohibited from walking along limited-access highways such as freeway main lanes, and a separate provision requires pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk to yield the right-of-way to vehicles.
Why Drivers Still Face Scrutiny Even When Pedestrians Break the Law
Even when a pedestrian is walking somewhere state law forbids, drivers are not automatically absolved of responsibility. Under Texas Transportation Code Section 552.008, as detailed by Mandy Rodriguez Law, vehicle operators must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on a roadway, including sounding a horn when necessary — which is why crash investigators typically examine vehicle speed, lighting conditions, and braking distance in these cases.
Texas law also requires drivers involved in collisions resulting in injury or death to stop immediately, check whether aid is needed, and remain until emergency responders arrive, per a Hoodline report on Texas Transportation Code Section 550.021. Failing to do so carries third-degree felony penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Because the driver in Friday's crash stopped and cooperated, that statutory obligation appears to have been satisfied.
A Pattern Repeating Along San Antonio's Highways
Friday's crash echoes a fatal incident less than three months ago just blocks away. On June 25, a 60-year-old man was fatally struck in a nighttime crash along the 500 block of the East Loop 410 access road near Tex-Con Road, on San Antonio's Southeast Side, according to Hoodline's coverage of that crash. As in Friday's incident, that driver also remained at the scene and faced no preliminary criminal charges.
The recurrence points to a broader structural issue. Roughly 60 percent of all pedestrian crashes in San Antonio occur on state-managed TxDOT roadways — including Loop 410, Interstate 10, and U.S. 90 — rather than on city-controlled municipal streets, according to the San Antonio Express-News. TxDOT Crash Records Information System data further shows that Bexar County accounts for roughly 93 percent of the more than 1,000 annual pedestrian-involved collisions across the eight-county San Antonio metro area, per the same Express-News analysis.
Citywide Numbers Remain Elevated
The city recorded 769 pedestrian-involved traffic collisions in 2024, resulting in 83 deaths and 168 serious injuries, placing San Antonio seventh in the nation for per-capita pedestrian fatalities, according to the City of San Antonio. That data prompted the city's Transportation Department to launch the $4.4 million “Keep Crossings SAfe” campaign targeting high-injury corridors.
More recent figures show 54 pedestrian fatalities and four bicyclist deaths in 2025, with total citywide traffic deaths exceeding 100, according to KSAT. Statewide, Texas recorded 768 pedestrian traffic fatalities in 2024, with pedestrian and cyclist deaths making up over 20 percent of all traffic fatalities in the state, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
SAPD has not released the woman's identity or updated her condition. The circumstances of exactly why she was on the highway remain unclear, and it is not known whether SAPD will file any citations once its collision report is complete.
