A man was seriously injured on I-96W in Detroit Thursday morning when he got out of his car to change a flat tire and was struck by oncoming traffic, Michigan State Police said. The incident occurred around 6 a.m. near Outer Drive, where his disabled vehicle had come to rest in the gore area between the express and local lanes. He was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, and the circumstances are still under investigation.
According to Michigan State Police, by way of FOX 2 Detroit, the victim got the flat just before 6 a.m. and pulled onto the gore, which is the wedge of pavement that separates the express lanes from the local ones. He stepped out of the vehicle and was hit by another driver almost immediately. Troopers say the investigation into how the second car struck him remains open.
The wreck occurred in the middle of the Thursday morning rush, snarling traffic for hours. State police shut down all but the far-right local lane of westbound I-96 while they worked the scene, and the closure lasted until roughly 8:30 a.m. Motorists were told to steer clear of the area, find another route, and brace for long backups.
Michigan State Police haven’t released any additional information about the crash. The injured man remains unidentified, and no specifics about his condition beyond “serious” were revealed. Unfortunately, he just happens to be one more Detroit motorist whose life was altered over a routine flat tire.
What Michigan State Police Say Happened
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Troopers described the incident as happening when a motorist on westbound I-96 got a flat and stopped in the gore near Outer Drive, which is the narrow no-man’s-land where the express and local lanes split apart. Someone outside that disabled vehicle was then struck by an oncoming car and seriously hurt, with Detroit EMS taking the victim to a hospital for treatment.
Only the far-right local lane stayed open for much of the morning as investigators mapped the scene and cleared the wreckage. Michigan State Police said, “No additional information regarding the crash is available,” and thanked the public for its patience. However, the agency has labeled it a developing story, which means details about the driver who struck him may still emerge.
A Preventable Tragedy Police Keep Warning About
This is exactly the scenario Michigan State Police have pleaded with drivers to avoid, because it keeps happening. Just last summer, a man was seriously injured on the Southfield Freeway under nearly identical circumstances. He also stopped for a flat and was out of his car when he was struck by a passing vehicle. Incidents on Michigan’s roadways aren’t uncommon, and figures cited this week put the state at 308 roadway deaths and nearly 1,700 serious injuries since the start of 2026 alone.
Troopers’ advice in these situations is consistent, and Thursday’s crash is a brutal reminder of why. If you get a flat on the freeway, they say, the safest move is to call 911. Michigan’s freeway safety vans can come change the tire and put a barrier between you and traffic. Alternatively, if you’d rather not wait, you can limp the car off at the next exit and deal with it off the shoulder. Getting out on the freeway itself, even for a job as routine as a flat tire, is simply too dangerous.