An 87-year-old driver from Kentucky is at the center of a fatal crash after his car ran a red light at a busy downtown Nashville intersection on Saturday afternoon. Thomas Cahill, of Bowling Green, was driving a 2013 Ford Fusion down 4th Avenue South when he hit four pedestrians crossing Broadway.
Cahill was behind the wheel with his 90-year-old wife in the front passenger seat. A caregiver for his wife was sitting in the back seat. As the car pulled up to the Broadway intersection, traffic was heavy with afternoon visitors filling the sidewalks.
Cahill did not stop for the red signal. His car drove straight into the marked crosswalk, hitting four people who were walking across the street. The crash instantly killed 58-year-old Timothy Wedlock, an Australian tourist visiting Music City.
The crash left three other pedestrians badly hurt on the pavement. Paramedics rushed all three to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. A 44-year-old man from Jacksonville, Florida, remains in critical condition. A 58-year-old woman from Parsons, Tennessee, is listed in critical but stable condition, while a 21-year-old woman from Knoxville was treated for minor injuries.
In the back seat of Cahill’s car, the caregiver told police officers she was looking down at her phone right up until the moment of impact. Neither she nor anyone else in the vehicle called out to warn Cahill before the car entered the intersection.
Officers with the Metro Nashville Police Traffic Division tested Cahill at the scene and found no indicators of impairment or intoxication. Both Cahill and his wife were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the caregiver escaped without injury.
Police investigators are working to figure out if Cahill suffered a sudden medical issue, got confused by downtown traffic, or simply failed to see the red signal. No charges have been filed yet as detectives continue to review camera footage and gather physical evidence from the scene.
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