Federal trucking safety rules aren’t being enforced, says Jackie Novak

On Oct. 24 last year, an 18-wheeler driven by Rouman Velkov plowed into a line of nine cars on I-26. Jackie Novak lost her son that night, who was in one of those cars. “Jackie Novak’s case is unusual in that it asks the FMCSA to better enforce its own rules and, as an afterthought, [asks it] for money,” writes a trucking-accident attorney.

Funeral, procession today for fallen Asheville firefighte­r Jeff Bowen

Capt. Jeff Bowen’s funeral is set for 11 a.m. today, Aug. 2, at Biltmore Baptist Church, and while the community is invited to pay their respects, officials expect “significant traffic delays” and congestion during the procession to and from the church. Bowen died on Thursday, July 28, while fighting a major fire at a Biltmore Avenue medical building. The fire injured almost a dozen other firefighters and caused significant damage to the building, which may not re-open for several months. City officials report that about 25 fire vehicles will take part in the procession today, escorting Bowen’s body from the Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue to Biltmore Baptist. Traffic delays are also expected from noon to 2 p.m., when Bowen will be returned to the funeral home.

“Aliens” among us

There must be “aliens” among us. I see them daily in the Asheville area, running red lights and never using turn signals. I have experienced several near misses by these folks. And apparently, there are more alien drivers in Asheville than in the Chicago area, where I drove accident- and ticket-free for 37 years. I […]

Driving the narrow way

Folks driving down Hillside Street seem utterly confused about who has the right of way when parked cars make it impossible for both cars to pass. Many neighborhood roads in Asheville are quite narrow indeed! The "general" rule of the road is, if you need to cross the center of the road to pass a […]

Bicyclists have to share the road too!

I am thrilled to see the growth of alternative transportation being fostered by our vibrant, local culture that is throwing itself into biking, busing, carpooling, etc. I'm also aghast at the dangerous conditions it has created. The unintended side-effect of increasing pedestrian and cycling traffic on our streets is that many people join the cause, […]

Road rage recipes

Thanks to your paper, I now know the names of two of the people I might have seen in my rearview mirror, tailgating my bumper while I was driving 10 mph over the limit in the left lane and searching for a way to move over into a crowded right lane [“Drive, He Said” March […]

The left lane is for passing

Thank you, Vernon Hill, for bringing up the most annoying habit to grace our highways: cars residing in the fast lane, otherwise known as Fast-Lane Hogs [“Drive, He Said,” March 16 Xpress]. Nothing enrages me more than drivers taking up occupancy in the passing lane. On a recent trip, I was graced with a middle […]

Asheville City Council

Faced with a host of infrastructure wants and needs, Asheville City Council members were nonetheless reluctant to charge ahead with a proposed bond issue during their inaugural work session on March 18. An uncertain economic future seemed to dampen the prospects for issuing some $10 million worth of general-obligation bonds. Chief Financial Officer Ben Durant […]

Asheville City Council

What a difference a couple of years makes. In 2002, concerns about traffic congestion threatened to derail a massive, highly controversial east Asheville development project. Toward the end of a 14-hour public hearing and Council debate that played out before a standing-room-only crowd that overflowed into three adjacent rooms, however, the developer volunteered to scale […]