To the Editor:

For the last 19 years I’ve been reading (frequently) how semi-trucks are a hazard on Highlands Road between Highlands and Franklin. Like other persistent knotty problems (drug use, drunk driving, various criminal activities and the like), why is everything so complicated? It ain’t rocket science, why is it made to seem so?

The reason these problems exist and persist is there’s insufficient deterrents. And yes, “stricter law enforcement” (as stated in the January 16 Smoky Mountain News article) is the solution to keeping tractor trailers off Highlands Road.

A few signs cannot be that expensive. But of course it helps if they’re the right signs. For example: “Tractor Trailers Prohibited, Fine (first offense) $1,000, (second offense) $5,000 plus 30 days in jail, last available turn-around, 500 feet.”

Write, and enforce, laws similar to these I have suggested and one hazard will be eliminated...

David L. Snell 

Franklin