Eugene man dies in rollover crash at I-5, Highway 58 interchange

Traffic at the Interstate 5 and Highway 58 interchange in Lane County was tied up for about two hours after a Eugene man died when his Ford Explorer rolled several times on the Highway 58 offramp Saturday afternoon.

Oregon State Police said troopers responded at 3:55 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Investigators said Richard Delbert Hemminger, 62, was driving southbound on Interstate 5, then merged onto the Highway 58 offramp before the SUV drifted off the eastbound shoulder and rolled multiple times. Hemminger was thrown from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Hemminger was not believed to be wearing a seatbelt. The Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is continuing to investigate what led to the crash, and the state agency has not yet said why the SUV left the shoulder. ODOT assisted at the scene as crews worked through the investigation and cleanup.

The crash landed at one of Lane County’s most important travel junctions. Highway 58 links the Eugene-Springfield metro area with the Bend-Klamath Falls corridor, and ODOT says the route carries roughly 3,300 to 16,000 vehicles a day. That volume means a single serious wreck can ripple quickly through Eugene and Springfield traffic, especially for commuters, freight traffic and drivers heading east out of the valley.

ODOT also has multiple projects underway or planned in the OR 58 corridor, including pavement work, landslide mitigation, passing lanes, drainage improvements and seismic bridge retrofits. The transportation agency says its fatal-crash information is preliminary and can change as more information is entered and reviewed.

For Lane County drivers, the crash was a stark reminder of how quickly conditions can turn deadly on a major interchange that serves local trips and longer regional travel alike. A rollover at the merge between I-5 and Highway 58 can slow or stop movement across a wide stretch of the county, and investigators are still sorting out what caused this one to leave a Eugene family grieving and a key corridor disrupted.