Two Rutherford County students taken to hospital after being hit by car

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) - A middle school student is out of the hospital and recovering after she and a friend were hit by a car walking to school. They weren’t on campus but in a school zone on Tuesday.

Blackman Elementary and middle and high schools are all in the area. The students were walking to school when they were knocked off their feet. “I never thought anything would happen like that to me like I have heard about it, but I never thought it would actually happen, eighth-grader Kaydyn Hamby said.

Hamby said she was mad and confused. “I feel like we were in plain sight,” Hamby said. “How do you not see me or her? Like I just don’t understand.”

Hamby and her friend were hit by a car Tuesday morning while walking to school in Murfreesboro. It left Hamby with a chipped tooth, concussion and crutches. “I woke up this morning and have a stiff neck, like new,” Hamby said. “My leg was sore.”

Tennessee Highway Patrol’s preliminary report said the students were crossing Fortress Boulevard from Blaze Drive when a 42-year-old woman made a left then onto Fortress and hit them. Hamby said they were in the middle of the crosswalk. “We were walking,” Hamby said. “We had the timer and everything, so we were walking, and it just happened.”

This comes just days after another Rutherford County Schools student was hit and killed by a car not long after getting off the bus on the first day of school. It is the first thing Hamby’s grandmother thought of when she got the call Tuesday morning.

“That is exactly what I thought,” her grandmother, Brandi Beach, said. “I couldn’t form a thought to find my shoes or my shirt, and that was what we thought and had to see it for ourselves to see she was in the ambulance and alert.”

The drivers have not been charged in either crash. In last week’s deadly crash, the Murfreesboro Police Department said they are waiting for the driver’s toxicology report. WSMV 4 asked THP why the driver was not charged in Tuesday’s crash. We are waiting on a response.

In a video message this week, MPD said an increased law enforcement presence at the schools through the 19th. “For the first two weeks of school basically and then the RUCO Safety Task Force will combine resources,” Lt. Greg Walker said. “Schools we have seen the most activity, we will get the positive message across what we are trying to get drivers to do.”

They are trying to get drivers to slow down and watch out for kids like Hamby. “You are literally in a school zone, so there are going to be kids,” Hamby said. “Just stop being oblivious and pay attention.”

The intersection is near the elementary school. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said two crossing guards were stationed here until 7:30 a.m. when the elementary school started. THP said Hamby and her friend were hit at 7:40 a.m.

This is the second instance of a Rutherford County School student getting hit by a car. On August 5th, a student was hit by a car and killed. It was also the first day of school.

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