Asheville City Council backs Lennie's Law after cyclist's death

Asheville City Council has backed Lennie’s Law, a proposed state bill named for Leonard “Lennie” Antonelli, the 27-year-old Asheville cyclist killed with Jacob Hill on N.C. 251 in Madison County last summer. The council urged North Carolina lawmakers to pass the measure as riders and advocates keep pressing for changes that could make roads safer in Buncombe County and across Western North Carolina.

The crash that gave the proposal its name happened just before 6:45 p.m. on July 1, 2025, during an organized ride with the Liberty Bike Club. A dump truck veered across the center line and struck Antonelli and Hill on the highway less than five miles from the Buncombe County line. Griffin Tichenor survived the wreck. Antonelli was 27; Hill was 32.

N.C. 251 has long been part of the riding map for Asheville cyclists, and the violent collision turned a familiar training road into a reminder of how exposed riders remain on mountain highways. Antonelli had worked for Liberty Bicycles for four years, tying him to the local cycling community that gathered for memorials in July 2025 after the crash. The loss of two Asheville riders on one stretch of road sharpened calls for action far beyond a symbolic show of support at City Council.

That is the test for Lennie’s Law in Buncombe County: whether a bill in Raleigh can do more than honor a dead cyclist. Council backing gives the proposal local political weight, but the danger that killed Antonelli and Hill came from the mix of speed, heavy vehicles and a roadway with little margin for error. Asheville cyclists and advocacy groups have already used the tragedy to push for stronger bicycle-safety legislation and local reforms on street design and enforcement.

For riders crossing between Asheville and Madison County, the question is whether the measure leads to real changes on roads like N.C. 251, where a single truck crossing the center line left one cyclist dead, another dead at 32, and a third rider alive to tell what happened. Without changes in how the road is designed, policed and shared, the law’s reach may be limited to the resolve it shows, not the safety it delivers.