Melinda Lovelady Killed in Electric Scooter Accident on Third Ave in Nashville, TN
Nashville, TN -- October 3, 2021, 56-year-old Melinda Lovelady died when her electric scooter was involved in an accident with a semi-truck in downtown Nashville.
Authorities say the incident happened around 7:30 p.m. on Third Avenue South near Symphony Place. Preliminary investigation suggests Lovelady was riding a Lime electric scooter on the roadway with three other riders nearby. She reportedly lost control of her scooter and swerved, entering the southbound lane and colliding with the rear tires of a nearby semi-truck.
Lovelady received traumatic injuries in the collision and was pronounced dead soon afterward. No other injuries were reported.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Melinda Lovelady Accident on Third Ave in Nashville
After reading about the circumstances of this accident I have a feeling some folks instinctively blamed the victim for her injuries. That's not to pick a fight with anyone, but rather to recognize that many people are prepared to assume the worst after they see someone "lost control" while operating a vehicle--even an electric scooter. Police even confirmed that some quantity of alcohol was involved as the victim allegedly had a .07 BAC at the time of the collision. That's under the legal limit for safe operation of a vehicle, but it might still be enough for amateur detectives to point accusatory fingers.
Before anyone jumps to such conclusions, however, as always I suggest patience and prudence. Even months later there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory explanation, reinforced by evidence, for what happened. A number of questions still linger: What caused the scooter to swerve away from the other riders? Was there something in the road the rider tried to avoid? Did another vehicle get in her way? Some reports said the scooters were traveling single-file, so did the one ahead of her slow or stop? Was the victim unable to brake for some reason? Could the semi-truck driver have done anything differently to avoid the collision or to lessen the damage done?
I'm not making any accusations or speculating about the nature of this crash. It could be that things happened exactly like police said and further investigation will simply confirm it. However, that's always important to verify with deeper analysis instead of trusting that their "best guess" tells the whole, true story. At the very least the victim's loved ones deserve to know that every effort was made to uncover the whole truth.
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