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 ...
The idiot was walking on the tracks. Why, oh why, can't we make them spend $1billion to protect morons from doing stupid sh*t that gets them killed?
Honestly, I'm having a hard time feeling much sorrow for the world's loss of a "graffiti artist."
,,, at forty seven years of age you have to simply assume that the gene pool takes care of itself. Maybe there’s a residual value on this guy’s hearing aids to spin it around as a good news story? Overall, an acceptable loss and a slight future gain on spray paint stocks.
Here in Lexington, KY, we regularly see freight trains passing through. And it seems that every car on those trains has graffiti on it. Now I’m wondering how much of the graffiti is the work of this “graffiti artist.”
You know what is an interesting exercise. There is some website that has all the fatal encounters with cars and people.
The VAST majority of them are people who tried to race the train to a crossing, people who tried to go around the barriers, people who stopped on the tracks, and people who were walking on the tracks.
Now, some “graffiti artist” (whatever the hell that is) is now dead because they were doing something they shouldn’t have in a place they shouldn’t have been.
They can add that one to their database.
If you can’t tell, I detest “graffiti artists” and the “art” they bring into our lives, so we have to see it every damn day whether we want to or not.
That was what I was thinking. There are times when I walk somewhere with earbuds in, but I assure you, it ain’t railroad tracks, and I always have my head on a swivel.
I am always aware of what is around me.
Walking on train tracks while “partially deaf” is never a good idea.
Betcha a nickel that the majority of the 200 killed made it a choice. Sad to say.
Brightline is a nice fast ride. Too bad that some fools get careless or use it as a way to commit suicide.
Criminal.
Karma!
You know, probably one of the hardest things to do in this world is to get hit by a train. They are huge and noisy and only travel on special tracks. You really have to work hard to set yourself up to get killed by a train. Takes real dedication to the art of stupidity.
“...while walking on the tracks...”
Darwin knew about that sort of behavior.....
Besides, the tracks can “sing”.
“Brightline trains in Florida currently reach maximum operating speeds of 125 mph (201 km/h), with average speeds around 69 mph (111 km/h) due to multiple station stops and urban zones. During testing, the trains have reached up to 130 mph”
So sez Google AI.
When he was spray painting other people’s stuff, was he huffing paint too ?
Yet, those same "artists" are the only ones telling the truth to the public by painting warning signs all over the place to stay away. It's a sign that there are no adults in charge. The government will instead lie to you and even alter or bury crime data.
Graffiti (and litter) are tests to view what government is willing and able to do keep an area clean.
It's an extreme case of "don't shoot the messenger" (regardless of the messenger's motivation).
A closing speed of 79 mph comes up really quick. If all you to focus on is the light it has to be really difficult.
“Shoot taggers on sight!”
.
OR, at least, deface the grafitti...
Usually means no horns for crossings. We have some in our area for the Rail Runner commuter.
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