Terrible…
One person was killed and multiple pedestrians were injured this afternoon after being struck by a car on Broadway in downtown Nashville.
Based on video from a live stream, it appears that a white sedan ran a red light at 4th Avenue North around 12:30 PM, striking the pedestrians who were crossing Broadway at the time. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, an 87-year-old driver from Kentucky suffered a medical emergency before striking four pedestrians. Photos of the vehicle show that the accident busted the front windshield of the Ford Focus.
First responders immediately shut down the intersection, which still appears to be closed as of about 2:00.
According to Metro Nashville Police Department, one visitor from Australia passed away shortly after arriving at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Another pedestrian from Jacksonville, Florida is reportedly undergoing surgery and is in critical condition, while a third from Knoxville is in serious but non-critical condition. A fourth is in critical condition.
The driver reportedly also suffered critical injuries. His wife and a caregiver were also in the vehicle with him at the time, with the wife suffering minor injuries while the caregiver was uninjured.
Officers are attempting to speak with the caregiver to understand what happened during the incident. Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed that the pedestrians had the light to cross during the accident, and that the vehicle ran a red light.
Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell issued a statement expressing his thoughts for the victims:
“This is an incredibly tragic event, and my heart goes out to the victims and their families impacted by this horrible moment. Our first responders and local medical professionals are working to aid the people injured, and crews are on the scene now to investigate exactly what occurred and how. Right now, it’s unclear why the 87-year-old driver failed to stop for the pedestrians in the crosswalk. Our main goals now are to take care of the victims and to keep everyone else safe.”
Anyone who’s walked or driven through Broadway in downtown Nashville can probably tell you that an accident like this was unfortunately inevitable at some point, given the heavy traffic from both vehicles and pedestrians. The city has started shutting down the street to vehicle traffic on weekend nights, but many have called for the 5-block stretch to be permanently closed to vehicles, or restricted to only traffic that’s necessary to the bars on the street.
There’s also an issue downtown with both pedestrians and vehicles disregarding the traffic control signals. On Broadway, all of the pedestrian lights change at once, meaning you have to wait until vehicles in all directions have a red light before crossing the street. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, which results in plenty of close calls between pedestrians and vehicles. And drivers are often impatient with those crossing the street and try to turn right on red, even though it’s clearly prohibited, so it’s a miracle that this doesn’t happen more often.
It’s well past time for Nashville to do something to improve the safety for both vehicles and pedestrians downtown, and do something to restrict traffic on Broadway. Whether that’s making it pedestrian-only, or closing Broadway to vehicles on weekends, something needs to be done so that accidents like this don’t happen again.
Study Ranks Nashville No. 2 On List Of “Most Stressful Cities To Drive In”
Music City is one of the premiere tourist destinations in the United States. 17.4 million people visited Nashville in 2025, and that annual visitor number is expected to gradually increase in the next couple of years (especially with the Super Bowl on its way).
Though often criticized for some of it’s touristy characteristics, people evidently can’t get enough of the pedal taverns, artist-owned bars, hot chicken, and $15 beers.
And tourists evidently aren’t paying attention to all of the negative headlines that surrounds Nashville. Let me tell you… there’s a lot of them. For one, Nashville has a liquid garbage problem they are currently addressing. Music City has also been ranked very high on the global “Tourist Trap” cities, and is often at the top of the list when it comes to most congested cities.
Here’s another study to confirm that, as if there was any real necessity for further confirmation.
Thanks to Lemon Law Experts, we now know that Nashville ranks very high in terms of “Most Stressful Cities To Drive In.” The study the law experts conducted took residents from cities all over the country, surveyed their driving experience, and then crafted a stressful driving score, as they explained:
“We surveyed residents of 40 major U.S. cities and asked about their driving experiences and how their encounters have impacted them. We then awarded points to responses that represented stressful situations and calculated a stressful driving score on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most stressful cities.”
In really no surprise at all, Nashville scored very close to 100. There was actually only one city that was ranked higher in terms of stress, and that wasn’t really all that shocking either:
Most Stressful Cities To Drive In
10) Houston, TX – 90.14
9) Pittsburgh, PA – 90.80
8) Louisville, KY – 91.12
7) Orlando, FL – 91.23
6) Columbus, OH – 91.97
5) Baltimore, MD – 93.02
4) San Antonio, TX – 93.62
3) Philadelphia, PA – 94.10
2) Nashville, TN – 97.21
1) Atlanta, GA – 99.40
Sound about right… and congrats to Atlanta for almost getting a perfect (or imperfect, I suppose) score of 100. That place is quite literally a nightmare to get through, and I say that as someone who is often fighting the traffic of the city that came in with a 97.21 stress ranking.
On the flip side, some of the least stressful cities to drive in, according to the survey, are San Francisco, California and Sacremento, California. Those must be a cakewalk to drive around when compared to Nashville. And if you haven’t been to Music City, just take it from NASCAR driver Ryan Preece: it’s not a fun city to try and get around in.
