Tragically, about a week after a hit-and-run driver struck and killed a senior on foot in West Town, a trucker fatally struck another elderly woman on the Near West Side, only a mile south of the earlier crash.
On Friday, January 24, a hit-and-run SUV driver killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Oakley Boulevard in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in the West Town community area. The crash report for the incident stated the name and address of the vehicle owner. Its narrative said the motorist paused after striking the pedestrian, and then dropped off a passenger at a nearby supermarket, and the vehicle's license plate was later recorded by an Automated License Plate Reader. This afternoon, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson told Streetsblog there are no updates on that case.
Then last Saturday, February 1, a truck driver struck and killed the other senior on foot. According to the initial police statement, at around 8:45 a.m., the 76-year-old woman was walking in the street on the 0-100 block of South Western Avenue. (A report from the Cook County medical examiner's stated the address as 1 N. Western.) At this intersection, Western is a five-lane street, which encourages speeding.
The CPD statement said a northbound truck driver struck the woman. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. No citations or charges had been issued at the time. The police spokesperson did not indicate that a crash report is currently available.
The medical examiner has not released the Near West Side victim's ID.
Fatality Tracker: 2025 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 3
Bicyclist: 0
Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data.
2025 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
• On January 5, 2025, a Jeep driver fatally struck Alex Rivera, 32, in the 2600 block of West 60th Street in the Chicago Lawn community area.
• On January 24, 2025, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, on the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard in West Town.
• On, February 1, 2025, a truck driver struck and killed a woman, 76, walking in the street on the 0-100 block of South Western Avenue on the Near West Side.
Did you appreciate this post? Streetsblog Chicago is currently fundraising to help cover our 2025-26 budget. If you appreciate our reporting and advocacy on local sustainable transportation issues, please consider making a tax-deductible donation here. Thank you.
