NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Saturday is the 7th annual Pedestrian Memorial to honor those who have lost their lives while walking or biking on Nashville roads.
37 people were killed walking or biking in Nashville last year, memorials have been made for each of them for the ceremony that will be at Trinity Community Common in East Nashville at noon.
Families of the victims from 2023 and years past will be there and speak, as well as elected officials and those who have been advocating for safer streets.
Walk Bike Nashville and Families for Safe Streets Nashville are the two organizations that host this memorial service every year.
The groups said each one of the deaths remembered could have been prevented with roads that discourage high driving speeds, painted crosswalks, working streetlights, bike lanes, and sidewalks.
Walk Bike Nashville said more than 75 percent of people killed while walking in Nashville were on state routes such as Dickerson, Murfreesboro, Nolensville, and Gallatin Pikes.
Pedestrian fatalities have increased by 308 percent statewide between 2012 to 2022.
2022 was a record-breaking year for pedestrian fatalities in Davidson County with 47 deaths.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
