El Paso, TX — October 12, 2025, two passengers were injured in a single-vehicle hit-and-run car accident just before 5:00 a.m. on Gateway Boulevard.

According to authorities, three people—an unknown driver and two 19-year-old women—were traveling in a westbound Honda Civic on West Gateway Boulevard near Paisano Drive when the accident took place. Officials state that, for as yet unknown reasons, the Civic failed to appropriately control its speed. Due to this, it was involved in a single-vehicle wreck, striking a tree. The person who had been behind the wheel allegedly fled on foot. The two 19-year-olds were hurt, one with serious injuries, the other with minor injuries. Additional details pertaining to this incident—including the identities of the victims—are not available. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a crash leaves two passengers injured and the driver flees the scene, the focus often shifts entirely to tracking that person down. But beyond accountability, the more immediate concern should be whether the crash has been properly investigated—and whether any contributing factors have been missed.

1. Did the authorities thoroughly investigate the crash?
Even in hit-and-run situations, the crash itself still demands close scrutiny. Was the Civic’s speed estimated based on damage or skid marks? Were the occupants interviewed to determine whether the driver lost control unexpectedly or reacted to something in the road? A collision with a fixed object like a tree can appear straightforward, but without mapping the vehicle’s path and reviewing the scene in detail, it’s hard to know whether the driver simply made a mistake—or encountered something unexpected.

2. Has anyone looked into the possibility that a vehicle defect caused the crash?
It’s also worth asking whether a mechanical issue contributed to the driver’s loss of control. Did the brakes fail, the steering lock up, or the tires lose traction due to worn tread? And given that the driver fled, could they have panicked due to a malfunction they couldn’t manage? These are questions that don’t get answered unless the vehicle is preserved and inspected after the crash—not just to understand driver behavior, but to ensure passengers weren’t placed at risk due to something that failed to work.

3. Has all the electronic data relating to the crash been collected?
The Honda Civic likely contains an event data recorder capable of capturing pre-crash information: speed, throttle, braking, and steering input. Has that data been retrieved? Was there any nearby security footage or traffic camera coverage that could show how fast the vehicle was traveling or what might have prompted the sudden loss of control? Especially in hit-and-run cases, digital records often serve as the only reliable account of what happened.

When passengers are hurt and the driver flees, it's not just a matter of criminal responsibility. It's a question of whether every effort was made to uncover what really caused the crash—and whether it could have been avoided.

Takeaways:

• Hit-and-run crashes with injuries still require full reconstruction and analysis of the scene and vehicle behavior.
• Mechanical failures may play a role and must be investigated through a detailed inspection of the vehicle.
• Onboard data and external footage are critical to understanding vehicle speed and driver actions before impact.