Pedestrian Fatalities

By Austin Busch.

Note: While this is the first pedestrian or bike fatality I've seen in news reports in 2026, it appears there were some other crash deaths this year that haven't been reported yet. Streetsblog Chicago will provide an update on these cases soon.

On in the evening of Wednesday, November 19, 2025, a motorist fatally struck beloved former Tribune Media Services Senior Vice President Walter Mahoney, 74, while he was on one of his regular walks near his home in Western Springs. Streetsblog Chicago reported on the case in December, and the details of the incident that were available at the time can be found in that previous article.

Marc Sims hosts the video chat show podcast "Just A Few Questions," with the stated goal that his interviews about recent events "will make people think." He invited me to join him Sunday morning to talk about efforts to prevent serious and fatal pedestrian crashes in Chicago.

Late January is generally when Streetsblog Chicago is able to reach a final count of people fatally struck on foot or bike the previous year on our city's surface streets. Sadly, I recently learned of a few more 2025 cases.

Streetsblog Chicago's Fatality Tracker series seeks to document all deadly pedestrian and bicycle crashes on surface streets within the city of Chicago. Our goal is to draw attention to the need for policy and infrastructure changes to help prevent these kind of tragedies.

Tragically, on Friday morning, after a driver dropped off a dog to Wanda Mejia, 35, in the River North neighborhood, the motorist accelerated and struck her as Mejia walked away, causing fatal injuries.