Fatal rollover crash shuts down I-105 in Eugene, kills one

A rollover crash on eastbound I-105 killed one person and sent another to the hospital before sunrise, turning the connector between I-5 and Coburg Road into a major police and fire scene during the holiday weekend.

Eugene Police and Eugene Springfield Fire were dispatched at 6:56 a.m. on May 23 to the eastbound lanes of I-105, where investigators said a GMC Jimmy struck a large fir tree head-on before rolling. The driver died at the scene. A passenger was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The vehicle came to rest on its side off the roadway and against a fence, according to the City of Eugene. The crash landed on one of Eugene’s most heavily used freeway links, a short connector that gives drivers access to I-5 from central Eugene and funnels traffic between downtown, the university area and the interstate system.

The Eugene Police Department’s Major Collision Investigation Team is handling the case. The city says that ad hoc team includes specially trained officers and a sergeant who are on call for major vehicle collisions, a sign that investigators will spend time reconstructing the vehicle’s path and looking at speed, road conditions and other possible factors.

Officials have not identified the victim, and investigators have not said yet what caused the rollover. That leaves open the question of whether the crash stemmed from a medical emergency, distraction, speed, a road hazard or another factor. For drivers, the practical reality was immediate: a fatal wreck on a small but vital freeway connector just east of Coburg Road, with emergency responders working the scene in the early morning hours.

The crash also fits into a broader regional safety conversation. Lane County’s 2025 Transportation Safety Action Plan uses a Safe System Approach, and county leaders say traffic safety is a top priority as they examine fatal collisions for possible countermeasures. The Safe Lane Coalition has made the elimination of fatal vehicle crashes in Lane County its goal.

The Oregon Department of Transportation says fatal-crash information in its system is preliminary and can change as more information is evaluated. ODOT also maintains 10 years of crash data. On a corridor like I-105, where a single collision can affect access to I-5 and ripple through Eugene traffic, that data will likely matter well beyond this one morning’s investigation.