KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman and a child are hospitalized with critical injuries after they were hit by a car on the side of a metro highway Friday evening.

Investigators responded to the crash in the eastbound lanes of Interstate-435 and Blue River around 10 p.m.

Police said a woman and a 5-year-old child were passengers in an SUV when it ran out of gas on the highway. The SUV stalled in a lane of traffic, but police said the driver put on the hazards.

Officers said the driver of a black Suzuki Grand Vitari told investigators he couldn’t change lanes in time to avoid the SUV because of traffic. He said he pulled onto the right shoulder to miss the stopped SUV. As he pulled onto the shoulder, the woman with the child stepped out of the passenger side of the SUV and onto the shoulder.

The driver told police he hit the brakes, but couldn’t stop in time and hit both the woman and the child.

Police said the impact threw the pedestrians several feet to the pavement. They suffered life-threatening injures in the crash and were rushed to hospitals.