Just Been in a Car Accident in Little Rock?

Your safety and the safety of your passengers come first. Before thinking about vehicle damage, insurance, or fault, take a breath and check whether anyone is hurt.

Call 911 even if injuries seem minor. Arkansas law requires drivers to report any accident involving injury, death, or property damage exceeding $1,000 to law enforcement. The responding officer will create an official accident report — a foundational piece of evidence for any future claim.

Adrenaline masks pain for hours. Whiplash, concussions, and internal bleeding often produce no immediate symptoms. Don’t tell anyone at the scene “I’m fine” — that statement can be used against you later by the insurance company.

If your vehicle is drivable and you’re not seriously injured, move it to the shoulder or a nearby parking lot. Turn on your hazard lights. Little Rock corridors like I-30, I-40, I-430, I-630, and Cantrell Road carry heavy traffic, and a disabled vehicle creates serious secondary accident risk — especially during rush hour on the I-30/I-40 interchange, one of the busiest freight corridors in the country.

If you can’t move your car, stay inside with your seatbelt on until help arrives. Standing on the roadside of a busy Little Rock interstate is dangerous, particularly on I-530 between Little Rock and Pine Bluff — the most dangerous interstate per mile in Arkansas.

Use your phone to photograph everything: all vehicles involved (including license plates), the road layout, traffic signs and signals, skid marks, debris, weather conditions, and your visible injuries. Get wide shots of the intersection or stretch of road to show context, then close-ups of vehicle damage.

Exchange information with every driver involved: name, phone number, insurance company and policy number, driver’s license number, and license plate. If there are witnesses, get their names and phone numbers too.

Look for security cameras on nearby buildings and businesses. In downtown Little Rock and along commercial corridors like Cantrell Road and Rodney Parham Road, many businesses have exterior cameras. Footage can be requested through your attorney or the police investigation — but it’s often overwritten within 30 to 90 days, so act fast.

Even if you feel fine at the scene, see a doctor within 24 hours. Car accident injuries — particularly whiplash, concussions, herniated discs, and internal bleeding — can take hours or days to produce symptoms. A medical record created the same day as the crash establishes a direct link between the accident and your injuries.

UAMS Medical Center at 4301 W Markham Street is the only adult Level I Trauma Center in all of Arkansas and handles the most critical injuries. Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock at 9601 Baptist Health Drive is a Level II Trauma Center with 827 beds — the largest private nonprofit hospital in the state. CHI St. Vincent Infirmary at 2 St. Vincent Circle also operates as a Level II Trauma Center. Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center.

Keep every receipt, every doctor’s note, and every prescription. Document lost wages from missed work, transportation costs to medical appointments, and any out-of-pocket expenses. These records are the foundation of your claim.

Arkansas follows a modified comparative negligence rule (Ark. Code § 16-64-122) with a strict 50% bar. If you’re found to be 50% or more at fault for the accident, you recover nothing. This is stricter than states that use a 51% bar — in those states, a 50/50 split still allows the plaintiff to recover half. In Arkansas, a 50/50 split means you get zero.

Insurance adjusters know this rule and will look for any evidence that you contributed to the crash: were you speeding, distracted, following too closely, running a yellow light, or failing to signal? Even a small percentage of assigned fault reduces your total recovery proportionally. If you were 20% at fault and your damages total $100,000, you’d recover $80,000.

This is why documentation matters so much. Dash cam footage, witness statements, the police report, and traffic camera data can all establish what actually happened. An attorney experienced with Arkansas comparative negligence cases can counter the insurance company’s fault-shifting arguments.

The other driver’s insurance company will call you quickly — sometimes within hours. They may sound friendly. They may ask you to give a “recorded statement” about the accident. You are not legally required to do this.

Recorded statements are used to find inconsistencies that can be used against you later. An off-hand comment like “I didn’t see them coming” or “I might have been going a little fast” can shift fault percentages in the insurer’s favor. Under Arkansas’s 50% bar, even a small shift toward you can mean the difference between recovering damages and getting nothing.

Stick to the facts. Report the accident to your own insurance company as required by your policy, but decline recorded statements from the other driver’s insurer until you’ve spoken with an attorney.

Arkansas’s statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is 3 years from the date of the accident (Ark. Code § 16-56-105). This applies to car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, and most other motor vehicle collisions. If someone died as a result of the crash, the wrongful death statute of limitations is also 3 years (Ark. Code § 16-62-102).

Three years sounds like plenty of time, but evidence fades fast. Surveillance footage gets overwritten, witnesses move or forget details, and vehicles get repaired or scrapped. Medical records are strongest when treatment begins immediately after the crash and continues consistently.

If a government entity is involved — for example, if the crash was caused by a road design defect on a state highway or city street — you may need to file a claim under the Arkansas Claims Commission Act, which has shorter notice requirements. Consult an attorney as soon as possible if a government vehicle or road condition contributed to your crash.

Arkansas’s 50% comparative negligence bar makes legal representation especially important. The insurance company only needs to push your fault to 50% to eliminate your claim entirely. An experienced attorney can gather evidence to establish the other driver’s fault, counter the insurer’s arguments, and protect your rights under Arkansas law.

An attorney can also calculate the full value of your claim — not just current medical bills, but future treatment costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. Arkansas has no caps on compensatory damages (Art. 5, § 32 of the state constitution prohibits them), so the full value of your injuries is recoverable.

Most personal injury attorneys in Little Rock work on contingency. No upfront cost. Free initial consultation. You pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you.