Posted on 05/25/2026 2:06:47 PM PDT by Libloather
A popular graffiti artist was fatally struck by a Brightline train in Florida, local officials say.
On May 13, Eric Alan Hirt, 47, was struck and killed at 12:26 a.m. local time while walking on the tracks in Biscayne Park, Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office (MDSO) Detective Joseph Peguero said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. Eric was hit by an oncoming Brightline train, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office confirmed, according to The Miami Herald.
The Brightline train is one of two high-speed trains in the U.S., traveling as fast as 125 miles per hour. The train began test runs in 2017. Since then, there have been over 200 fatalities associated with Brightline trains that took place near or on the tracks, with Hirt's marking the 206th death, according to a joint investigation conducted by WLRN and The Miami Herald. Brightline has not been found responsible or held liable for any of the deaths.
Shawn Hirt, Eric's wife of 26 years, told The Miami Herald that his death was an accident. She noted that authorities watched footage of the incident and saw him carrying something, then, at the last second, looked up with a “deer in the headlights” reaction.
Eric, who was partially deaf, had repeatedly crossed the unfenced tracks behind their house, Shawn told The Miami Herald. Their home is in a “quiet zone” with no train horn, and it was dark at the time of his death. Police told her the train was traveling at 79 miles per hour, Shawn told the outlet.
"We're devastated," she told the outlet, explaining that they had been living by the tracks for 35 years and now the tracks are just "a constant reminder of what we lost."
(Excerpt) Read more at people.com ...
Because they are not.
Trains run on tracks. The tracks are not hidden. They are easy to spot. Don't walk on the tracks and you have reduced your chances of being hit by a train by 99%.
Shouldn’t that be changed to graffiti vandal?
Thanks for making my point.
Something has to be done about these killer trains. If only there was some way to predict where they might go, these senseless killings could be avoided. Maybe we could put them on tracks or something then people would know how to avoid this sort of thing.
You’ve obviously never been to Wynwood in Miami. It’s a feature, not a bug.
Infrastructure graffiti is bad enough, and it’s a necessary evil, I darn sure don’t need this guy’s “art”. And that would be all the utility markings on the ground associated with new construction.
Ah see what y’all did up there!
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