A 28-year-old Fenton man is dead after he got out of his SUV on westbound I-96 in Brighton Township to check damage from a deer collision, only to be struck by a box truck swerving to avoid his stopped vehicle. The crash shut down the freeway for hours early Wednesday near Pleasant Valley Road.
According to FOX 2 Detroit, the man had collided with a deer while driving his Ford Escape, then stopped the SUV in the right westbound travel lane rather than pulling onto the shoulder before getting out to look it over. That decision put him directly in the path of oncoming traffic in the predawn dark.
A box truck heading westbound moved into the right lane and, upon spotting the stopped Escape, swerved to avoid hitting it — striking the driver instead, the station reports. The 28-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was not hurt, per the same account.
Freeway Shut Down for Hours During Investigation
Westbound I-96 remained closed near the crash site for several hours while police worked the scene, reopening by roughly 8:30 a.m., according to MLive. The outlet's report places the deer collision at around 3:30 a.m., when the man had been driving west on I-96 before striking the animal and pulling into the right lane.
Other outlets gave differing times for when the fatal strike occurred. FOX 2 Detroit reported the box truck hit the man at about 3:25 a.m. near the Pleasant Valley Road exit, while ClickOnDetroit put the crash at around 3:45 a.m. near the same exit, identified as Exit 150 in Brighton Township. The exact sequence of timing has not been reconciled across reports.
ClickOnDetroit also issued a correction to its initial reporting, noting that an earlier version of its story incorrectly identified the vehicle that struck the driver as a FedEx truck. Police said the investigation into the crash remained ongoing, per the same outlet's report, with no further details released on the box truck or its driver.
A Familiar Risk on Michigan Freeways
The danger of stepping out of a vehicle on an active freeway after a collision is not unique to this crash. In February 2025, FOX 2 Detroit reported a man was hit after getting out of a crashed vehicle on I-96 near M-14 in Livonia, a similar scenario that left him injured rather than killed.
Deer strikes themselves are common across the state. Michigan saw more than 58,000 deer-vehicle crashes in 2024, with about 80 percent occurring on two-lane roads, according to the Michigan State Police. The agency notes that deer are most active at dawn and dusk, hours that align with when many of these crashes occur.
Aerial footage captured by SkyFox showed the crash scene along I-96 in Brighton Wednesday morning as investigators worked to piece together what happened. No further updates on charges or additional details have been released as the investigation continues.
