Buncombe County · Western North Carolina
Personal Injury Attorney for People Hurt in Asheville
Anyone injured in an Asheville collision can call me first, before deciding anything else. Phone and video are how that first Asheville conversation happens. Anywhere in Asheville, I can come to you. Name the spot, your own house included; I will meet you there. Working together, or not, is a choice we make at that Asheville meeting.
The firm has one office, at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham, and the opening call works the same from Buncombe County as it does from a few blocks away. I have held a North Carolina law license since 1998, and someone phoning from Asheville is offered the identical opening talk and in-person meeting a Graham caller would get.
The sections below settle which agency writes up a crash inside Asheville, what changes on the Parkway or across a town line, which courthouse serves Buncombe County and what decides venue, how the I-26 Connector figures in, what the state's city crash table shows for Asheville, and what to have in hand before we meet.
01
Which Asheville crashes city police respond to and write up
The Asheville Police Department sends officers to crashes inside the Asheville city limits that involve death or injury, a hit and run, a suspected impaired driver or a vehicle that needs towing, under Policy 1301 on traffic crash investigations, last revised January 27, 2026. That response rule reaches private property and parking lots inside the city as well as public streets.
Sending an officer and writing the state crash report are separate steps in Policy 1301. Policy 1301 requires the DMV-349, a crash report form posted by the NCDMV, whenever an Asheville crash on a street or highway inside the city limits involves a death, an injury, damage reaching $1,000, or another condition in the table below.
| Policy 1301 step | Where it applies in Asheville | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|
| Officer response | Anywhere inside the city limits, including private property and parking lots | Death or injury, hit and run, suspected impairment, damage to public vehicles or property, a hazardous materials release, a disturbance between the parties, major congestion, damage that needs a tow |
| DMV-349 report | Streets and highways inside the city limits | Any death or injury; damage reaching $1,000 or more; a hit and run involving injury, death or leads to investigate; driving while impaired; a driver whose license is revoked; spilled hazardous materials; a vehicle the city owns |
| Exchange slip | Motor vehicle collisions officers handle | Copies go to all involved parties |
Exception. Policy 1301 writes its DMV-349 rule for collisions on a street or highway inside the city limits, while its response rule also covers parking lots. After a crash in an Asheville parking lot, ask the Records Unit what the officer wrote before counting on a state report.
A collision that involved death or serious injury gets a full investigation under the same policy, and when injuries are life-threatening the on-scene supervisor decides whether to call out the Traffic Safety Unit. The car accident page covers the claim that follows a crash on an Asheville street.
02
Blue Ridge Parkway rangers and the town lines around Asheville
The National Park Service says its law enforcement rangers investigate an average of 200 accidents a year on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and that half of those result in serious injury. The Park Service lists its Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center at milepost 384 with an Asheville address, 199 Hemphill Knob Road.
Park Service rangers on the Parkway
When Park Service rangers investigated a Parkway crash, their report comes through a request to the National Park Service, under its instructions for accident reports.
Asheville officers inside the city limits
Policy 1301 covers crashes within the Asheville city limits, and those reports come from the Asheville Police Department Records Unit.
Buncombe County lists five municipalities besides the City of Asheville, which are Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Montreat, Weaverville and Woodfin. A crash just across one of those town lines sits outside the city limits that Policy 1301 is written for.
The exact spot of a crash near Asheville decides whose report exists. Write down the road and the nearest cross street or milepost before anything else.
For a crash on a state road outside any town, the Western North Carolina region page covers the State Highway Patrol troop that serves Buncombe County.
03
Where is a lawsuit from an Asheville crash filed?
The place to file a case from an Asheville crash is set by where the people involved live, and the crash location is not the test. North Carolina's venue statute, G.S. 1-82, sends a civil action to the county in which one of the plaintiffs or one of the defendants resided at the action's commencement. A Buncombe County resident on either side of an Asheville crash makes Buncombe County a proper place to file.
| Court | Address | Superior Court district | District Court district |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buncombe County Courthouse | 60 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801 | District 40 | District 40 |
District Court or Superior Court in Buncombe County
G.S. 7A-243 makes the amount in controversy the test for the proper trial division in a Buncombe County civil case. At $25,000 or less, District Court is where the case belongs; above $25,000, it belongs in Superior Court.
Exception. Where none of the defendants is a North Carolina resident, G.S. 1-82 lets the case be tried in the county of any plaintiff's residence. For an Asheville resident whose only defendant is a nonresident driver, that rule makes Buncombe County a proper venue.
Venue under G.S. 1-82 follows where the parties live. For that question, each person's home address counts and the crash site's street does not.
Venue under G.S. 1-82 follows where the parties live.
04
The I-26 Connector across the French Broad in Asheville
The I-26 Connector is NCDOT project I-2513, a median-divided freeway of about 7 miles with interchange-only access that NCDOT says will link I-26 in southwest Asheville to U.S. 19/23/70 in northwest Asheville. NCDOT's project page lists it as funded for about $1.8 billion.
| Connector section | NCDOT's description |
|---|---|
| Section B | New interstate from the Haywood Road interchange north across the French Broad River, tying into U.S. 19/23/70 north of Broadway |
| Section C | Improvements to the I-40 interchanges with Smokey Park Highway, I-26/I-240 and Brevard Road |
The same project page names the I-26/I-40/I-240 interchange, where three interstates meet in the project area. A crash near one of those interchanges is a reason to record the exit number and your direction of travel.
If a tractor-trailer was involved on I-26, I-40 or I-240 in Asheville, the federal carrier rules that apply are set out where we cover truck crashes.
05
Asheville's 2024 crash count and its size in the mountains
For 2024, the NCDMV's Crash Facts gives Asheville 4,507 crashes; the All heading also carries 1,461 injuries and 21 fatalities.
The U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates count 93,523 people living in Asheville at July 1, 2025. Boone, Hendersonville and Waynesville, three other towns in this site's Western North Carolina region, each fall below twenty thousand in that same Census release.
| Census place name | Residents counted, Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025) |
|---|---|
| Asheville city | 93,523 |
| Boone town | 19,929 |
| Hendersonville city | 15,867 |
| Waynesville town | 11,006 |
Those numbers describe the city as a whole and say nothing about one person's crash. The Asheville crash statistics page explains what each column counts and what the table leaves out.
06
What to have in hand before we meet in Asheville
The City of Asheville's Police to Citizen tool finds a crash report by its Asheville Police Department case number, or by the date and location of the crash. The city says its online tools hold most Asheville crash reports from 2003 to the present.
Call the Graham office
Dial 336-221-8900 from Asheville. Spanish speakers can reach Lorena Meza, the paralegal working with me.
Find the Asheville case number
Without a case number, the city sends people first to its crime map or to Simplicity, then back to Police to Citizen.
Meet in person in Asheville
When the phone or video portion is finished, an in-person Asheville visit comes next. Here too, I can come to you. Name a location in the city, and at that sit-down both of us reach a decision on representation.
Bring the exchange slip from the officer if you have it. Each way to request the report is listed in the crash report guide for Asheville, and our visit process is laid out step by step.
When you are ready to set a time, the contact page takes a visit request from anywhere in Buncombe County.
Questions
Common questions
Does it cost anything to get my Asheville police crash report?
No. The city's own records page lists police and crash report copies at no cost, both through the Police to Citizen download and by calling the APD Records Unit. A copy ordered from the NCDMV is the one that carries a state fee.
Can I sue in Buncombe County if the driver who hit me lives in Tennessee?
Yes, if you live in Buncombe County. When no defendant resides in North Carolina, G.S. 1-82 points to a county where a plaintiff resides, and for an Asheville resident that is Buncombe County and the courthouse at 60 Court Plaza.
Is Woodfin or Biltmore Forest part of Asheville for a crash report?
No. Buncombe County lists Woodfin, Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Montreat and Weaverville as municipalities separate from the City of Asheville. Asheville Police Department Policy 1301 covers crashes inside the Asheville city limits, so a crash in one of those towns falls outside that policy.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (18)
- Asheville Police Department Policy 1301, Traffic Crash Investigations, last revised January 27, 2026, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Facts page (2025 report by email request; DMV-349 crash report forms), verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, Driving Safety, verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, Milepost 384, verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, How to Request an Accident Report (last updated October 9, 2024), verified October 18, 2026.
- Buncombe County Government, Municipalities, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-82, venue, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-243, proper division by amount in controversy, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Judicial Branch, Buncombe County (court districts), verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Judicial Branch, Buncombe County Courthouse, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Judicial Branch, Court locations, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-26 Connector, Project I-2513 (page timestamp September 10, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, North Carolina 2024 Traffic Crash Facts, Section 4 City Data, City Crash Data table, page 26, verified October 18, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Asheville city, North Carolina, Population estimates, July 1, 2025, (V2025), verified October 18, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Boone town, North Carolina, Population estimates, July 1, 2025, (V2025), verified October 18, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Hendersonville city, North Carolina, Population estimates, July 1, 2025, (V2025), verified October 18, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Waynesville town, North Carolina, Population estimates, July 1, 2025, (V2025), verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Asheville, Find an incident or crash report (last updated or reviewed September 14, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
Hurt in Asheville? Talk first. Then I can come to you.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video.