Two men were killed and another seriously injured in a terrible car crash in Arkansas earlier this month. The three individuals were in an SUV traveling along Ashley County Road in rural Ashley County, Arkansas in windy and rainy weather with poor visibility when tragedy struck. The vehicle, a Ford Escape, left the road as it attempted to navigate a tight corner. It struck a culvert in a ditch and continued traveling, striking several trees before coming to a stop. Two of the individuals in the vehicle (the driver and one passenger) were killed instantly. The second passenger was left with serious, life-threatening injuries.

These two traffic deaths mark the 457^th and 458^th this year on Arkansas roads according to one preliminary study of crash data collected from around the state.

Contributing Factors Don’t Necessarily Negate Liability

Car accidents in Arkansas are more common when contributing factors like bad weather and poor visibility come into play. Such conditions not only make it more difficult for drivers to safely negotiate traffic, turns, and hills, but they also can make it impossible for a vehicle to physically handle the drive. Cars are mechanical devices and are subject to the laws of physics. If slick conditions eliminate the friction of tire-on-pavement, a car will slide. If a wind gust hits the side of a large vehicle, the vehicle will act like a sail. Continue reading ›

Hit-and-run car accidents in Arkansas can be some of the most difficult for victims because the at-fault party often gets away without ever being caught, but an injured party may still have options available to them for financial recovery.

One hit-and-run accident earlier this month ended in a graveyard.  The crime spree began in Blytheville, Arkansas on September 11^th when a 17-year-old driver chose to use intoxicating drugs and get behind the wheel. This list of charges only grew from there as the impaired young driver smashed head-on into another vehicle at the intersection of North Division and West Highway 18 after turning into oncoming traffic. But the young man didn’t stop there. Instead of stopping his vehicle and waiting for authorities, like he should have done, he attempted to escape. Fleeing down the street in a heavily-damaged vehicle, the reckless driver jumped a curb and ran through a cemetery—smashing several grave markers along the way—before the engine actually fell out of his vehicle and the car came to a stop. Continue reading ›

Spinal cord injuries are serious and require immediate medical attention.  Even delaying treatment by a few minutes can have serious impacts on your future quality of life.  As a paralysis accident attorney in Arkansas, I’ve seen the fallout of people simply waiting too long to see a doctor because they didn’t think anything was seriously wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, victims may not immediately know if they have a spinal cord injury. However, delaying treatment can greatly increase the risk of permanent damage leading to partial or complete paralysis. That’s why, if you or a loved one has been involved in any type of accident, you must closely monitor your symptoms and immediately contact a medical professional if you even suspect spinal cord injury. Continue reading ›

The actions (or inactions) of one person can have a tremendous effect on the lives of multiple individuals when that person is behind the wheel of an automobile. Slamming one multi-ton piece of machinery into another can have horrific fallout for everyone involved but, as the number of cars on our streets increases, so do the number of multiple-victim crashes. This truth was brought horrifically to light earlier this year when a car accident in Arkansas injured multiple victims and left a trail of destruction and debris throughout a busy intersection. The whole thing was caused because a driver failed to stop for a red light at an intersection in Springdale.

Red Lights Don’t Stop Everyone

Police investigators were able to cobble together eyewitness testimony and physical evidence to reconstruct the crash and found that the inattention of one driver caused the entire mess.   Oftentimes with serious car crashes, a team of accident reconstructionists would need to be called in to reconstruct a scene, but luckily the police officers onsite were able to get the answers they needed there at the scene and with eyewitness testimony. Continue reading ›

Earlier this year a young boy was killed while out for a drive with his grandmother in Woodlawn. Their vehicle was struck from behind by another as the grandmother had stopped awaiting an opportunity to turn left onto Hill Harper Road. The boy, just 11 years old, was rushed to the hospital then sent further afield for treatment in Little Rock, but his injuries were too severe for him to overcome.

Unfortunately, these types of rear-end collisions car accidents in Arkansas are a significant hazard.

According to crash statistics collected by The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NTHSA), rear-end collisions are actually the most common type of crash nationwide. They represent almost a full third of all collisions (29%) and can cause some of the longest-lasting physical injuries suffered by victims. Indeed, victims who survive rear-end car accidents often suffer from neck and spinal cord injuries and a significant portion also have to deal with some form of Traumatic Brain Injury. Continue reading ›