Rutherford County, TN - Grief overcomes Chuck Isbell when he speaks about the traffic death of his son, Nate, 13, of La Vergne Halloween night 2020. “I failed him,” Isbell said. “I couldn’t save him and be the hero I thought his was.”

Isbell made the comments to fellow classmates at the Sheriff’s Citizens Academy Class 62 graduation last week. The father described how Nate was skateboarding when a motorist driving over the 35 mph speed limit in their neighborhood struck him.

“He (Nate) laid on rocks and took his last breath,” Isbell said, later adding, “He never got a chance to grow up.”

Since his death, Isbell has lobbied state legislators and the Rutherford County Commission to drop the speed limit to 25 in residential neighborhoods. The Rutherford County Commission unanimously voted to lower the speed limit to 25 mph in residential areas on Halloween night. “25 mph is not a huge ask for us,” Isbell said. Isbell plans to keep fighting for the reduction of the speed limits.