NEED TO KNOW
Eric Hirt, a celebrated Miami graffiti artist, was fatally struck by a Brightline train in Biscayne Park, Fla., on May 13
Hirt’s wife criticized what she claimed was a lack of safety measures near the tracks and created a GoFundMe to support their family
Brightline trains, known for their high speeds, have been linked to over 200 fatalities on or near the railroad tracks since beginning operations in 2017; in a statement, Brightline noted that “none of the incidents along the railroad have been the result of improper train handling by Brightline personnel or failure of our equipment or infrastructure”
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.
Eric Alan Hirt
Credit: GoFundMe
“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.”
A GoFundMe was created to help Shawn and the couple’s daughters.
“I don’t understand why there’s not a lot more safety features,” she added. “How many people have to die?”
Eric was known for his graffiti work around Miami, with the Miami Style Gods, which formed in the 1990s. The celebrated artist, known as “Eson,” appeared in Vice’s 2018 documentary, The Last Vandals.
A Brightline spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE that “safety is the top priority at Brightline.”
“We have been a leader in the industry on safety initiatives related to education, enforcement, and engineering,” the May 22 statement continued. “As a result of our focus, including our significant investments in safety infrastructure, none of the incidents along the railroad have been the result of improper train handling by Brightline personnel or failure of our equipment or infrastructure.”
“The tragic fact is that they are preventable. Our hearts go out to anyone impacted by these incidents – including loved ones, our train crew, first responders, and the community at large,” the statement read. “We all need to do our part – motorists, pedestrians and community members – to act safely and follow the laws around the tracks.”
Eric Alan Hirt
Credit: GoFundMe
Eric’s death marks the ninth Brightline-related fatality in 2026, per The Miami Herald. This is a decrease from last year, when there were 13 Brightline-related deaths through mid-May 2025, according to the outlet.
Nearly 11 months ago, in July 2025, WLRN and The Miami Herald published a report that there had been 182 deaths linked to Brightline trains between 2017 and the time of the report’s publication. Of those, 158 of the victims were either on foot or on a bicycle.
At the time, the outlet found that someone is killed in an incident involving a Brightline train, on average, once every 13 days. Brightline runs 36 trains per day in South Florida, according to the company’s October 2025 revenue and ridership report. This death rate was substantially higher than the busiest commuter line in the U.S., New York’s Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The LIRR runs 947 trains a day, and six people were killed in incidents involving such trains in 2024, according to an October 2025 report in The Atlantic.
At the time of the July 2025 WLRN/Miami Herald report’s publication, Brightline estimated that over half of the fatalities were due to suicide. WRLN said in its report that 41% of Brightline-related deaths were a result of suicide.
Brightline passenger train
Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty
Additionally, the tracks are almost entirely at street level and cut through high-traffic intersections, according to the WLRN/Miami Herald report. More than half of the route has “quiet zones,” preventing the trains from sounding their horns, according to the report.
After the July 2025 investigation, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pushed for the use of $42 million in federal grants awarded to Brightline between 2022 and 2024, according to a September 2025 statement from the Department of Transportation. The funds are intended to pay for “critical rail safety projects” like fencing and interventions to deter people from passing the lowered gates.
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PEOPLE reached out to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office for comment.
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