Grace Bentkowski, a 22-year-old journalist, tragically died after being struck by a train at the Hegewisch South Shore station in Chicago on July 25.
Her family is advocating for enhanced safety measures at the station, as they believe the current setup, which requires riders to cross tracks without sufficient warnings, is dangerous.
There were no audible alerts before the accident, which left her family devastated.
“We have the kids on a Life360 [GPS] app and we saw that she got on the train,” her father, Phil Bentkowski, said. “And then a delay came up on the South Shore website. The next one said train-pedestrian accident. I thought, ‘glad it’s probably not her.’”
“I got a bad feeling she was the one who was hit, as soon as I saw she ended up at University of Chicago I hopped in the car and drove down there,” Bentkowski said. “I spoke to District 3 CPD or transit police and they asked ‘are you related to Grace Bentkowski?’”
“My initial thought was ‘that’s not possible,’” Bentkowski said. “Was under the assumption that if you were hit by a train leaving the station, obviously it wouldn’t be that fast and worst case was maybe a broken leg. It’s the worst nightmare ever.”
“No noise, no nothing. From the video all you hear is a thud,” Bentkowski said. “Then the engineer blows a horn.”
“It’s such a safety issue, this is 2024,” Bentkowski said. “I don’t understand why there isn’t ‘stop, look, listen’ safety signs–— it makes no sense. She was thrown 50 feet.”
Following the incident, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District announced plans to add safety signage and active warnings for pedestrians.
“We are reaching out to an engineering firm to determine what it will take to add active warning to the pedestrian crossings,” The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District stated.
“In the interim, we are installing warning signage, and, although not required by law, the South Shore Line will institute a train whistle board to sound as trains approach the crossings,” it said.
NewsNation praised Bentkowski as a promising talent in journalism, expressing their sorrow over her loss.
