NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a record number of pedestrians were killed in Nashville last year, community groups and Metro leaders gathered to remember the lives lost.
Walk Bike Nashville and Music City Riders United hosted a Day of Remembrance outside the Metro Courthouse.
Walk Bike Nashville reports that 32 people were killed while walking in Nashville last year. At the event, they laid out shoes. Each pair of shoes represented one of the victims.
"Pedestrian deaths are preventable deaths," Lindsey Ganson with Walk Bike Nashville said, "We know they're largely preventable when city invest in infrastructure and enforcement."
Walk Bike Nashville says 22 pedestrians were killed in 2018. That's compared to the 12 people a decade ago in 2009.
The organizations are working with Mayor John Cooper to make safer streets a priority in Nashville.
Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all.
“This is an important commitment for our city – one made in honor of those who have lost their lives in traffic fatalities and to help protect future generations of Nashvillians,” said Mayor Cooper. “Nashville is currently ranked number one in the state for injury crashes, speed crashes, and crashes among young and senior drivers. We must do better, and our commitment to Vision Zero will play an important role in turning those numbers around. A great city is a walkable city, a bike-friendly city – one that shapes its transportation plan and mobility infrastructure around the safety and well-being of all residents and all modes of travel.”
Mayor Cooper also announced that 14 locations of concern for pedestrian and cyclist safety have been added to his administration’s transportation plan for priority safety improvements. These locations include Church Street between 15th Ave N and 16th Ave N., Clarksville Pike between Buena Vista Pike and Cliff Dr., and Gallatin Pike between Eastland Ave and Chickamauga Ave. The administration is also examining dangerous vehicular intersections throughout Davidson County, such as Hickory Hollow Pkwy & Mt View Rd, Bell Rd & Cane Ridge Rd, and Broadmoor Dr & Dickerson Pike.
