Here’s what to do after an Arkansas car accident to protect your health and your right to injury compensation.
Travel across Arkansas highways, roads, and streets totaled 37 billion vehicle miles in one recent year.¹ There are more than 82,000 crashes on Arkansas roadways annually, resulting in more than 20,000 injuries and 600 fatalities.²
If you or a loved one were injured in an Arkansas car accident, you could be eligible for compensation.
What to Do After an Arkansas Car Accident
Here are steps you can take to protect yourself after an accident in Arkansas and to build a strong injury claim.
1. Stay At the Scene and Exchange Information
Arkansas car accident law states that any driver involved in an accident resulting in injury or death must immediately stop and remain at the scene. Drivers must give their name, address, and the registration number of the vehicle they are driving to the other driver.
Upon request, the driver must exhibit their driver’s license to the person struck, or the driver or occupant of any vehicle they collided with.
2. Call 911 and Help the Injured
Drivers at the scene of an accident must give reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including making arrangements to transfer the injured person for medical treatment. Calling 911 to report the accident and ask for an ambulance satisfies the obligation to arrange transportation to a medical facility.
If you are able, try to help the injured until emergency responders arrive.
3. Seek Prompt Medical Treatment
Never refuse medical attention at the scene of an accident or “wait and see” how you feel the next day before seeking a medical evaluation.
Experiencing the violent impact of a traffic accident can trigger a rush of adrenaline in the body, masking symptoms of potentially serious injuries. Let the paramedics check you out. If they want to transport you to the hospital, go with them.
Refusing or delaying medical treatment after an accident is not only dangerous, it gives the at-fault driver’s insurance company an excuse to challenge your injury claim.
If you’re not transported to the hospital from the scene, go to the emergency department, an urgent care center, or see your primary care provider the day of the accident. Tell your caregivers exactly when and how you were injured. Be sure to discuss every injury, not just the most painful one.
4. Gather Evidence From the Scene
When you make an insurance claim, the burden is on you to prove the other driver made a mistake or failed to drive appropriately. The police crash report is important evidence of fault when the other driver is cited for traffic violations.
Other types of evidence to gather include:
- Photographs and video of the scene, vehicles involved, and road conditions
- Name and contact information from potential witnesses
- Your personal notes about how the crash happened and the aftermath
5. Notify Both Insurance Companies
Your auto insurance policy is a binding contract between you and the insurer. Every auto policy has a notification clause requiring the policyholder (you) to notify the insurance company of any accidents.
You are contractually obligated to notify your insurer even when the accident isn’t your fault. In return, the insurance company has a duty to defend you if you are sued by anyone who may have been injured in the accident.
Notify the at-fault party’s insurance company of your intent to file an injury claim. The company will usually respond to your letter by assigning a claim number. You may be contacted by an adjuster with a quick settlement offer. Decline to discuss settlement until you’ve recovered from your injuries, or you probably won’t get a fair payout.
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Arkansas Fault and Liability Rules
Arkansas is an “at-fault” liability state, so you can seek compensation for car accident damages from the at-fault driver and their insurance company.
You can still use your own insurance, but you are not required to turn to your own insurance company after a car accident. If you have collision coverage, you may choose to have your insurance company handle your vehicle repair claim. In turn, your insurer will pursue reimbursement from the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
Arkansas Shared Fault Rules
Arkansas follows a modified comparative fault rule. Also called a 50 percent rule, you can pursue a claim against the other driver so long they are more at fault than you. When you share less than 50 percent of the fault you can still file a claim, but your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of blame for the accident.
Example of Comparative Fault
Charlotte was on Route 30, heading home to Shannon Hills from her nursing job in Little Rock. Ben was also on Route 30, traveling behind Charlotte’s vehicle.
It was shortly after sunset, and fog was beginning to roll in. Charlotte was startled by a deer running across the road and immediately slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the animal.
Ben had been following a little too close behind Charlotte, considering the speed of the cars and the incoming fog. He didn’t see brake lights, and by the time he realized the car in front of him had stopped, he could not avoid a collision.
Charlotte suffered neck and back injuries that kept her out of work for almost a month. She filed a $10,000 injury claim with Ben’s insurance company for her medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
The adjuster challenged Charlotte’s claim, arguing that her brake lights were not working at the time of the accident. If her brake lights had been working, Ben might have avoided the accident. Charlotte accepted 35 percent of the fault for the crash. Her injury claim settled for $6,500.
Arkansas Car Accident Compensation
Insurance companies in Arkansas payout more than $1.2 Billion in auto accident claims each year. Car accident lawsuits usually settle out of court, even when a lawsuit had been filed against the at-fault party.
You can estimate the value of a minor to moderate injury claim by totaling your economic damages, like medical bills, lost income, and related out-of-pocket expenses, then adding one to three times that amount to account for your non-economic damages, like pain and suffering.
A multiple of one is reasonable for minor soft-tissue injuries. A higher multiple is reasonable for more extensive injuries. Serious injuries and wrongful death cases should only be handled by an experienced attorney to ensure the best outcome for victims and their families.
Use our free Arkansas Injury Settlement Calculator to estimate your claim value.
Average Car Accident Settlements in Arkansas
The average injury settlement for a moderate car accident claim in Arkansas is $39,090, with average payouts ranging from $6,720 to $827,000. Settlements and court awards can range from $2,000 for minor injuries up to $3,000,000 or more for catastrophic spinal cord injuries.
Injury settlements can vary widely, depending on the circumstances of the accident, the victim’s injuries, and the liability limits of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy.
For example, look at these two rear-end accident cases with low and high payouts:
- In Washington County, Rutherford v. Mid-Delta Community Service, G165267, a jury awarded $2,000 to the victim for soft-tissue neck and back injuries. The at-fault driver said she slow-rolled into the victim’s car, and denied causing the victim’s injuries.
- In Pulaski County, Hardy v. Osinowo, 3:10-cv-00204-JMM, the case settled for $300,000 before trial. The victim suffered significant disc injuries with loss of future income. The driver primarily at fault for the crash denied liability for the plaintiff’s injuries.
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Factors that impact car accident compensation include:
- Scope and severity of injuries
- Shared fault for the crash
- Multiple-vehicle collisions
- Multiple injured victims
- Fatalities
- Available insurance coverage
When you and others are badly injured, there may not be enough insurance money to cover everyone’s damages. Available insurance coverage may be available from the at-fault driver, and from your own policy, depending on the circumstances of the crash and the optional coverages on your policy.
Arkansas State Minimum Insurance Requirements
Arkansas drivers are required by law to carry an auto insurance policy with a minimum bodily injury liability limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.
Optional Insurance Coverage in Arkansas
If you choose to purchase UM and UIM coverages, you can turn to your own insurance company for compensation after an accident caused by an underinsured driver, a hit-and-run, or a driver with no active insurance.
Insurance companies selling auto policies in Arkansas are required to offer optional uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage. The policyholder has the right to decline the optional coverage.
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