A 56-year-old woman riding her bicycle on Old Walland Highway near Melrose Station was struck by a vehicle Wednesday morning and left behind by the driver, who has not been found. The crash happened around 9:20 a.m., and the cyclist was taken to an area hospital for treatment before being released.
The Blount County Sheriff's Office is now asking the public to help identify the vehicle involved, according to WBIR. Deputies described the suspect vehicle as an older-model silver or dark gray Nissan 350Z or similar car, noting it may have tinted windows, a rear spoiler, and damage to its front end or right side.
Deputies Seek Tips on Distinctive Vehicle
Investigators are asking anyone who was in the area around the time of the crash to call the Blount County Communications non-emergency line at (865) 983-3620. The specific combination of features cited by the sheriff's office — tinted windows, a possible spoiler, and visible damage — gives the public concrete details to watch for as the search continues.
The stretch of Old Walland Highway near Melrose Station has seen serious wrecks before. A July 2020 crash there killed an 18-year-old Knoxville driver and critically injured a 17-year-old passenger, according to the Blount County Sheriff's Office. Melrose Station itself is a historic site, once a passenger train stop connecting Maryville and Townsend visitors to local mineral springs before the Melrose Hotel was torn down around 1924, per a local historical account.
Second Bicyclist Hit-and-Run in Blount County Since June
Wednesday's crash follows another hit-and-run involving a cyclist in the county just two months earlier. In June, 70-year-old Maryville resident Joyce Frey was fatally struck while riding on Old Niles Ferry Road, as Hoodline reported at the time. That case involved a search for a dark Dodge pickup, a different vehicle than the one deputies are now seeking in the Melrose Station crash.
Tennessee law treats bicycles as full vehicles on public roads. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-8-175, drivers passing a cyclist must leave at least three feet of clearance, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security. Leaving the scene of a crash that causes injury is a Class A misdemeanor under Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-10-101, carrying penalties of up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and fines as high as $2,500, per Palmer Law, PLC.
A Broader Pattern of Rising Cyclist Danger
The Blount County incidents echo a national trend. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows pedalcyclist fatalities nationwide climbed to 1,166 in 2023, a 4 percent increase from 1,117 the year before. That uptick, paired with two hit-and-run cases involving cyclists in Blount County within a matter of months, has heightened concerns about safety on the county's narrow, shoulder-less rural roads.
Non-emergency reports to both the Blount County Sheriff's Office and the City of Maryville Police Department are routed through the Blount County Emergency Communications District dispatch center, which coordinates responses across the county and its municipalities. Anyone with information on the vehicle or the Wednesday crash is urged to contact investigators through that non-emergency line as the search for the driver continues.
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