Midway Through 2020, Nashville’s Pedestrian Deaths Are Setting New Records

Midway through 2020, Nashville is again experiencing high pedestrian fatalities. The city is ahead of last year’s record-setting pace, when 32 people were fatally struck by vehicles.

Fifteen people have died as of June 20, including three in a recent eight-day span, according to Metro police.The incidents come as law enforcement and researchers have found an uptick in speeding and reckless driving across the country, likely in reaction to roads being less congested during the pandemic.

Overall, traffic deaths in Tennessee have been roughly on par with prior years, despite far fewer miles being driven, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.

Nashville police say they have fielded 125 calls for cars striking pedestrians in the first half of the year. The most recent incidents occurred on streets with a variety of characteristics, but each sharing conditions that are prone to pedestrian strikes:

• 52-year-old Julio Gutierrez, of Nashville, died June 13 crossing five-lane Buena Vista Pike near Cliff Drive at about 10 p.m. While there are sidewalks on both sides of that pike, there are no crossing aids for people on foot. The driver of a Ford Taurus was charged for driving uninsured and without a license.
• 31-year-old Ruonan Yao, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, died June 17 after being struck the day before in the crosswalk at West End Avenue and 31st Avenue South. The driver of a dump truck told police he didn’t see her while turning right onto West End. A decision about potential charges has not been made.
• Just after 11 p.m. Saturday night, 41-year-old Robert Preston III, who is homeless, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while he was crossing Lafayette Street near Fairfield Avenue, south of downtown. The street is five lanes wide and has crosswalks at the traffic light, but not where the man was struck.

“All three people killed over the last week were killed on streets known to be dangerous for pedestrians. Until we redesign our streets to make them safer for pedestrians, people will continue to die in record numbers,” said Lindsey Ganson, director of advocacy and communications with Walk Bike Nashville.

Her organization has pushed for changes to signal timing, roadway designs and speed limits to protect pedestrians.

“Metro and State government should make these types of changes an urgent priority. We don’t have to fix every street, we just have to fix the streets that are known to be dangerous,” she said, citing that 80% of local fatalities happen on major arterial roads, like West End Avenue, that are known to be crash-prone.

University Memorializes Student

Vanderbilt University responded to Yao’s death by sharing a biography and statement to students and staff, describing her as “passionate about her work with students in the Nashville community.”

Yao was a second-year graduate student seeking a master’s degree on a path to become a school counselor.

She had recently moved to Nashville from Guangzhou, China. She was a frequent volunteer with Metro Schools and active in Vanderbilt extracurricular groups.

This story was updated to add the identification of Gutierrez, as provided by Metro police.