Following an incident over the weekend where a pedestrian was struck by a tour bus in downtown Nashville, city leaders are discussing the possibility of a "no-drive zone" in select areas of the city.
On Saturday (October 23), a woman was seriously injured after being hit by a double-decker Gray Line tour bus on Broadway around 5 p.m., per FOX 17. According to police, she was in the crosswalk at the time, but the bus had the right of way. As of Tuesday, she remains in critical condition.
The incident has sparked more debate about regulating traffic downtown, including from Metro City Council Member Robert Swope, who called it an "unfortunate accident." One such regulation, he proposes, is a no-drive zone limiting traffic to certain areas of the city, the news outlet reports.
"I believe most of downtown should be a no-drive zone. Period. Whether that's 24/7, 365 or just on the weekends, I don't know," said Swope. "I've been saying the same thing for 6.5 to 7 years now."
Tee Jordan, of Safe Fun Nashville, said that "no option ... [is] off the table" when it comes to discussing measures to keep the people of Nashville and those who visit the city safe.
"With the growth that Nashville has seen we have to let our regulations and our rules evolve with that growth," said Jordan.
This isn't the only time recently that city leaders have attempted to implement regulations on vehicles downtown. Just last week, Metro City Council voted to restrict open containers of alcohol inside "transportainment" vehicles in Nashville as well as limit who can operate said vehicles. That discussion was also inspired by another incident downtown where a tourist was injured after falling from a party bus.