A Hyde Park Academy student, Violet Harris, was killed in a hit-and-run while riding a motorized scooter near 7670 S. Exchange Ave. in South Shore, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on March 21. The incident was one of 83 hit-and-runs reported on South Shore’s main roads so far this year.
The frequency of such incidents highlights ongoing concerns about traffic safety and driver accountability in the neighborhood. City data shows that from Jan. 1 to March 23, there were a total of 248 crashes along major thoroughfares in South Shore, with drivers fleeing the scene in roughly one-third of those cases.
Officers found Harris unresponsive at the scene before she was taken to University of Chicago Hospital by paramedics, where she was pronounced dead. Her mother, Rachel Sturgis, wrote on an online fundraiser that Harris was enrolled in honors classes at Hyde Park Academy and described her as someone who “filled the room with smiles when she walked in and brought so much joy to everyone she came in contact with.” Sturgis started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover burial expenses for her daughter.
Harris’ aunt Terri Dean told the Tribune that Sturgis and her children have not returned home since the incident. Another woman identifying as Harris’ aunt posted online seeking video footage related to the crash.
Dave Simmons, executive director of cycling advocacy group Ride Illinois, said it is “startling” that about a third of all crashes on these roads are hit-and-runs this year. He added: “It speaks to a substantial societal issue… Something’s going on [where] people think it’s OK to be involved in something serious like a crash, and then get out before there’s any responsibility.” Simmons also discussed potential technological solutions such as speed-limiting governors and automatic emergency braking systems but noted that some changes must come from driver behavior: “At all levels of government, it’s known that fast, aggressive driving has such terrible results… It’s going to take a concerted effort to reverse that trend, but I don’t know that anyone has the answer right now.”
