An older man was critically injured early Thursday after being struck by a car along First Capitol Drive just north of Interstate 70 in St. Charles. Police said the man was walking in the road around 1:30 a.m. when a first driver nearly hit him before a second driver struck him moments later.
According to First Alert 4, both drivers stopped, rendered aid to the injured man, and cooperated with police at the scene. Paramedics transported him to a hospital in critical condition, the station reported. No further details on his identity, age, or condition have been released.
A Corridor Already Flagged for Safety Problems
Thursday’s crash happened on a stretch of roadway that has drawn scrutiny for years over its crash history. MoDOT crash data shows 444 crashes reported along First Capitol Drive from 2019 through 2023, an average of 88.8 crashes per year, per the same outlet’s earlier reporting. A longer review covering 2017 through 2023 identified 663 total crashes on the corridor, including seven documented pedestrian or bicycle crashes, one of which was classified as a fatal-or-serious-injury crash.
The corridor’s risk profile has also drawn attention from regional planners. East-West Gateway ranks the corridor in the top 10% of its all-modes high injury network and among the top 5% of regional priority corridors, the station’s report notes. The St. Charles County Strategic Highway Safety Plan separately classifies the road as a medium-high crash rate ratio risk and a Local Priority corridor.
Proposed Redesign Would Narrow the Road
City officials have floated a redesign of First Capitol Drive that would reduce it from four lanes to three — one lane in each direction with a center turn lane — while adding a 10-foot shared-use path and lighting improvements, according to the earlier First Alert 4 coverage. A 2025 study found the improvements included in the full First Capitol program could reduce crashes by up to 67% at the corridor’s higher-crash intersections.
The corridor’s pedestrian risks are not new to the area. A pedestrian was hit by a car and killed early one Wednesday in a trailer park in St. Charles, stltoday.com reported in a separate incident. Thursday’s crash adds to a growing list of close calls and collisions along the same general area of the city.
Investigators have not released the names of either driver involved in Thursday’s crash, nor have they said whether citations have been issued. The circumstances that put the man in the roadway before the crash remain unclear.
