A pedestrian was left in critical condition after being struck by a car late Friday night near a Mega Saver on Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha. The crash happened after 11 p.m., and investigators say the cause remains under investigation.
Details about the pedestrian's identity, the driver involved, and the precise cause of the crash have not been released, according to KETV, which first reported the incident. The stretch of Northwest Radial Highway where the crash occurred has drawn scrutiny from both city officials and neighbors for years over speeding and repeated collisions.
A Corridor With a History of Danger
Just months earlier, in May, another crash at 50th Street and Northwest Radial Highway struck a pedestrian, damaged a nearby building and severed a gas line, according to reporting from WOWT. The outlet noted that the condition of that pedestrian was not made available at the time. Neighbors told the station that speeding drivers have caused multiple crashes over the years along that stretch, resulting in property damage, injuries and at least one death.
City officials have acknowledged the danger. Omaha officials described the Northwest Radial Highway corridor as a high-risk area that they are examining for long-term safety solutions, per the same WOWT report. One Omaha City Council member said at the time that the city planned additional enforcement, including speed traps, to make sure drivers were obeying basic traffic laws.
City Council Weighed a Traffic Study
The scrutiny on the corridor predates this year's crashes. Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen has pointed to state data showing someone dies in a crash along the corridor every year, according to KETV. Festersen said speeding along the corridor is an issue the city wants to address to improve safety, noting that up to 30,000 vehicles travel through it every day.
The council was scheduled to vote on a $350,000 traffic study, with the state covering 80% of the cost, that would evaluate crash data and examine safety improvements from 72nd Street to the north freeway through the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency. The same KETV report noted that a woman had died in a crash at 50th and Northwest Radial the week before that vote.
Part of a Statewide Pattern
The crash comes against the backdrop of Omaha's broader Vision Zero initiative, a road safety program fully adopted in 2023 to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries citywide, according to Nebraska Public Media. The Vision Zero Omaha Action Plan aims to eliminate traffic deaths by 2045 and identifies 117 priority projects across the city. The Omaha City Council approved a $345,896 contract with consulting firm WSP USA in 2022 to help build the plan, and the city has said it will continue community engagement this year on a multimillion-dollar safety study reshaping Ames Avenue between 72nd and 24th streets.
Pedestrian deaths have become an increasing concern statewide. Omaha recorded nine pedestrian deaths in 2025, down from a record 14 the year before, Nebraska Public Media reported. Elsewhere in the state, Kristine Hess, a 61-year-old Omaha woman who served as Civic Nebraska's director of operations, was killed when a tow truck struck her while she crossed North 48th Street, according to the Omaha World-Herald. In Lincoln, pediatrician Katherine Gogela was struck and killed near the MoPac Trail crossing at South 84th Street, the newspaper reported.
No further details about Friday's crash have been released as investigators continue working to determine what happened.
