My family and I, traveling north on Highway 5, just minutes before you get to El Paso, Arkansas, passed by an accident involving a small passenger vehicle and what appeared to be an 18-wheeler gas truck. There were police and ambulance personnel on the scene when we reached the scene of the accident. The small gold colored passenger vehicle was badly damaged. It was stopped in its lane of travel, the airbags on the front and side had deployed, the windshield was shattered, and there was damage to the front driver’s side and down the whole driver’s side of the vehicle. The gas truck was a few hundred feet from the vehicle it had hit.
I do not know what happened in this accident, but the reality is that these unfortunate types of accidents occur on our Arkansas roads far too often. When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, especially a large vehicle, you need to be alert at all times of what is happening around you. Drivers of 18-wheeler trucks are asked to drive long hours, causing them to be more of a hazard behind the wheel due to fatigue. Fracking trucks are large and can cause major injuries when involved in wrecks. I pray the people involved in this accident are okay and wish them a complete and speedy recovery.
If you witness a dangerous truck driver, please contact your local police department or Arkansas State Police to report it. Accidents involving big trucks often lead to serious injury or death. We must all be vigilant if we see a truck that is driving dangerously or recklessly.