The Deadliest Highways and Corridors in Nashville

Nashville drivers spend a lot of time merging. Interstates 24, 40, and 65 all converge within a few miles of downtown, and the arterial roads that feed them, Dickerson Pike, Murfreesboro Pike, Gallatin Pike, carry more traffic than they were built for. The result shows up in the crash data every year, and 2026 has been a rough one so far.

Statewide, Tennessee actually moved in the right direction in 2025: 1,045 traffic deaths, down from 1,194 in 2024, a drop the Tennessee Highway Safety Office credits to enforcement and education campaigns.¹ The Nashville reporting district followed the same trend, falling from 268 fatalities in 2024 to 255 in 2025.¹ But 2026 has told a different story on Nashville's own streets. Metro Nashville Police data shows 13 pedestrian deaths by May 6, 2026, compared with just 3 by the same point in 2025.² On August 1, an 87-year-old driver ran a red light at Broadway and 4th Avenue downtown and struck four pedestrians who had the walk signal, killing a 58-year-old visitor from Australia and critically injuring two others.³

The interstate interchanges that keep showing up

Look at fatal crashes on Middle Tennessee interstates over the 24 months ending February 26, 2026, and a pattern emerges. Of 44 interstate deaths in that window, 20 happened on I-24, 17 on I-40, six on I-65, and one on I-440, based on an analysis of Nashville's open data portal and the state's Traffic Fatality Dashboard.⁴ Three locations tied for the most fatal crashes, three apiece, over that span:

• I-65 at mile marker 85 in North Nashville, near Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, where I-24 and I-65 split and merge near Metrocenter
• I-24 at mile marker 62 in Antioch, near Old Hickory Boulevard, the commuter corridor drivers use from Rutherford County
• I-40 at mile marker 213 near Spence Lane, part of the I-40/I-24/I-440 interchange cluster by the airport⁴

I-24 at mile markers 59 and 38, and I-40 at mile markers 215 and 220, each recorded two fatal crashes in the same two-year period.⁴

TDOT's response on I-24 has centered on the SMART Corridor project, roughly 28 miles from I-440 in Nashville to Exit 81 in Murfreesboro, plus 28.5 miles of Murfreesboro Road and connecting arterials. The project has added ramp metering, variable speed limits, upgraded fiber, and dynamic message signs. Its second construction phase, a $45.8 million contract, wrapped up recently, and a third phase is still in design.⁵

Vision Zero's high injury network

Metro Nashville adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in August 2022 after finding that just 6% of city streets account for nearly 60% of all fatal and serious injury crashes across every mode of travel, and 2% of streets account for 60% of the fatal and serious crashes involving people walking.⁶ Ninety percent of the intersections on that high injury network sit in what the plan calls "highly vulnerable" areas, places with more residents living in poverty or without a car.⁶ A handful of corridors keep recurring in that dataset and in local news coverage.

Dickerson Pike is one of them. At least 61 people died on the road between 2018 and 2022, one of the worst tolls of any corridor in Davidson County.⁷ TDOT and the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure are rebuilding a 1.7-mile stretch between Trinity Lane and Ewing/Broadmoor Drive with new sidewalks, and Metro Council extended the completion deadline to July 31, 2027 after the original timeline slipped. If the work isn't finished by then, the state won't reimburse further construction costs.⁷ In 2020, more pedestrians died on Dickerson Pike than on any other single street in Nashville, part of why the city cut the speed limit five miles per hour between Berry Street and Goodlettsville.⁸

Murfreesboro Pike shows up just as often. Two of its intersections, at Mountain Springs Road and at Bell Road, have ranked among the city's two most crash-prone locations in most years since 2017, with 879 combined crashes recorded between January 2017 and February 2024.⁹ Nearby, Murfreesboro Pike at Rural Hill Road logged 36 crashes in a single recent year, 17 with injuries, and the intersection at Hobson Pike logged 47 crashes with 28 injuries.⁹

Main Street and Gallatin Pike in East Nashville have logged more than 800 crashes over the past three years, according to Metro's Choose How You Move initiative, which points to high speeds, poor lighting, and missing pedestrian infrastructure as contributing factors.² On May 6, 2026, a semi-truck struck and killed a pedestrian at Gallatin Pike and Trinity Lane, one of several intersections along that stretch already flagged for improvement.²

Nolensville Pike has drawn the most federal money of any single corridor. In December 2023, Nashville received a $13 million Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, paired with $3.2 million in local funds for a $16.3 million total project, to rebuild a 2.5-mile stretch between McCall Street and Haywood Lane with new sidewalks, lighting, pedestrian hybrid beacons, and leading pedestrian signal intervals.¹⁰

What the numbers mean if you're the one in the crash

None of this data changes what happens in the moments after a crash. Tennessee's comparative fault rules still apply, insurance companies still fight over liability, and a serious injury on a road like Dickerson Pike or Murfreesboro Pike can mean months of medical bills before anyone sorts out who's responsible. If you've been hurt in a crash on one of these corridors, an attorney who already knows the intersection, the roadway's crash history, and which agency controls that stretch of road can move faster than one starting from scratch. You can find one through thatcarhitme.com's legal directory.

The engineering fixes underway, on Dickerson, Nolensville, and eventually Murfreesboro and Gallatin, take years to finish. Until they do, these are the corridors where Nashville's own crash data says to slow down and pay closer attention.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, "Tennessee Sees Significant Drop in Traffic Fatalities in 2025," https://www.tn.gov/safety/news/2025/12/31/tennessee-sees-significant-drop-in-traffic-fatalities-in-2025.html

2. WPLN News, "Nashville pedestrian and roadway deaths have spiked in 2026," https://wpln.org/post/nashville-pedestrian-and-roadway-deaths-have-spiked-in-2026/

3. NewsChannel5, "1 dead, 3 hospitalized after driver hits pedestrians on Broadway in Nashville," https://www.newschannel5.com/news/state/tennessee/davidson-county/multiple-people-hit-in-crash-on-lower-broadway-in-nashville

4. NewsChannel9, "The three deadliest interstate interchanges in Middle Tennessee, according to new data," https://newschannel9.com/news/local/the-three-deadliest-interstate-interchanges-in-middle-tennessee-according-to-new-data-i-65-i-24-i-40-rosa-parks-boulevard-old-hickory-boulevard-north-nashville-antioch-spence-lane

5. Tennessee Department of Transportation, "I-24 SMART Corridor," https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/region-3/i-24-smart-corridor.html

6. Metro Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure, "Vision Zero," https://www.nashville.gov/departments/transportation/plans-and-programs/vision-zero

7. WSMV News 4, "Project to make Dickerson Pike safer extended by Metro Council to finish by mid-2027," https://www.wsmv.com/2025/01/23/project-make-dickerson-pike-safer-extended-by-metro-council-finish-by-mid-2027/

8. Civic Design Center, "The Journey to Complete Streets on Dickerson," https://www.civicdesigncenter.org/all-projects-blog/dickerson-complete-street-infrastructure

9. WKRN News 2, "Two intersections in Nashville, TN have had the most crashes for 7 years," https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/two-intersections-in-nashville-have-had-the-most-crashes-for-7-years/

10. Nashville Mayor's Office, "Nashville Receives $13 million Federal Funds for Transportation Safety Project," https://www.nashville.gov/departments/mayor/news/nashville-receives-13-million-federal-funds-transportation-safety-project