Four people, including two adults, a teenager and a child, were hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday morning after an SUV crashed into a bus stop in south Phoenix. The crash happened around 8:15 a.m. at the intersection of 46th Street and Baseline Road, sending emergency crews rushing to the scene to free at least one person trapped beneath the wreckage.
According to fox10phoenix.com, one person was trapped and had to be freed by ladder crews before being taken to a hospital. A man was hospitalized in stable condition, the station reported, while another adult involved in the crash refused transport to the hospital. Arizona's Family reported that firefighters arrived to find a Jeep Patriot had crashed into the bus stop, injuring six people total, and that crews captured video showing a badly damaged white Jeep Patriot alongside a mangled bus stop, with debris and vehicle parts scattered across the sidewalk and road.
Conflicting Accounts of the Sixth Patient
Accounts differ slightly on what happened to the sixth person involved. Per Arizona's Family, that individual was checked out by firefighters and declined transport to a hospital. However, abc15.com reported that another adult was evaluated at the scene and did not need to be hospitalized — two versions of the same outcome that could not be fully reconciled from available reporting.
Phoenix Fire Captain Mike Johnson told Arizona's Family that two adults, a teen girl and a child were taken to nearby hospitals in critical condition. ABC15 reported those critically injured patients as two adults, a 16-year-old girl and a child, adding that the teenager's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, according to police cited by the station.
Investigation Still Underway
Phoenix police have taken over the investigation and are working to determine what caused the driver to crash, along with other details surrounding the incident, Arizona's Family reported. The abc15.com report similarly confirmed that what led to the crash remains under investigation by Phoenix police, with no cause yet released.
The scene itself bore signs of the impact's force: the bus stop was partially lifted out of the ground and knocked backward, per Arizona's Family's account of what crews found at 46th Street and Baseline Road.
A Citywide Pattern of Serious Crashes
The crash adds to a broader tally of serious collisions across Phoenix. City data show the city recorded 23,676 total collisions in 2024, including 806 involving pedestrians, according to the City of Phoenix. A separate city pedestrian-risk analysis found that intersections with traffic signals had the lowest proportion of pedestrian serious injuries and fatalities relative to all crash severities, at 28%, compared with 32% at stop-controlled locations and 38% along roadway segments, per the City of Phoenix.
Crashes involving bus stops have turned deadly elsewhere in Arizona. In Tucson, a speeding 2006 Mazda struck a 2008 Jeep Patriot before plowing into a bus stop where three people were sitting, according to tucson.com. Two of those bystanders, Hunter Beckhorn and 65-year-old Gary Goodboy, ultimately died of their injuries, and a third person involved in that crash also later died, bringing the death toll to three. Tucson police said no signs of impairment were found in that case, though speed was determined to be a factor, and no arrests or citations were made, the outlet reported.
No cause has been released for Wednesday's crash in south Phoenix, and police have not said whether speed, impairment or another factor was involved. The investigation remains active as authorities continue working to piece together what happened at 46th Street and Baseline Road.
