On the evening of April 6th, 2024, after my son's local prom his classmates were involved in a fatal car accident traveling on interstate 40 E at exit 53B.

6 teenagers were enjoying what was supposed to be one of the most memorable and fun nights of their high school years. Instead, young lives were lost, grievous physical and emotional injuries were sustained, and families and communities have been devastated when a young driver lost control of the vehicle unable to slow down in time to safely navigate the exit and hit a tree.

The heartbreak and loss from this accident is immeasurable and ongoing.

While speed was a clear factor in the accident, the exit poses some significant risk factors and hazards for any speed or road condition that need to be addressed. 

53B is the main exit off the interstate (traveling east) that leads into downtown Asheville. 53B is an exit that everyone coming into Asheville from the south side of town utilizes. It is a main artery into our thriving downtown and countless inexperienced drivers and young people travel this exit to school or work each day. Yet warning signs that signal to the driver what is necessary to safely navigate the exit are inadequate. And without sufficient measures in place, the large tree at the crux of the exit poses a secondary deadly hazard.

I have had to drive this exit numerous times since that night and what stands out is the glaring lack of appropriate signage that alerts a driver to the immediate and sudden need to dramatically slow down. There is also nothing that indicates that the exit ahead makes a hairpin turn.

Currently, there is merely one yellow sign with a 25 MPH marked on it and in some seasons this sign isn’t even visible because of foliage until the turn is upon you.

Most people traveling the interstate at this point are driving 65-70 MPH on average. So at a minimum, a driver needs to slow down at least 40-45 miles an hour very quickly. Yet, there is little drawing a driver's attention to the urgent need to reduce speed, and there is nothing alerting the driver to the degree or severity of the curve ahead.

This is a clear and urgent public safety issue.

In solidarity with countless other mothers of young drivers and with profound grief for the lives lost and forever altered that terrible night, we demand that NC DOT take swift action to improve the safety of exit 53B. 

-We ask that a series of yellow arrows are installed on the curve of the exit to demonstrate the severity of the turn ahead.

-We ask that a sign is installed that visually demonstrates the full loop of the exit.

-We ask for an improved speed limit sign that either flashes a light to bring attention to itself, or that shows the drivers speed compared to the posted speed limit (via radar).

-And we ask that a guard rail is considered to create a barrier to keep cars from hitting the tree and if that cannot happen, we ask that the tree is removed.

The young lives lost and gravely affected by the events of April 6th, 2024 cannot be replaced nor can the harm be undone. However, NC DOT can take swift action to protect future lives from being lost and destroyed through simply installing appropriate safety measures.