49-year-old South Shore residentClarence D. Walton was struck and killed by a Metra train while biking last last month. He was the seventh and final on-street bike fatality of 2017.
According to police, on Saturday, December 23, at about 5:05 p.m. Walton was riding across 71st Street at East End Avenue when he disregarded train signals and rode across the tracks, located in the median of 71st. The victim, who lived nearby on the 7100 block of South Constance Avenue, was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:15. An autopsy conducted the next day ruled his death an accident, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The train that struck Walton was an outbound run of the Metra Electric District Line on the South Chicago branch, according to a Metra official. Train service resumed at 6:25 p.m.
Fatality Tracker: 2017 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths
Pedestrian: 42
Bicyclist: 7
Note: Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago streets. The pedestrian count above is based on Chicago Police Department data for January through October released by the Chicago Department of Transportation, plus media reports for November and December. In addition to the on-street bike fatalities, on June 24 a cyclist was riding on a CTA train platform when he fell on the tracks and was fatally struck.
