Hit by a Car While Walking in Little Rock?

If you’ve been hit by a car, your first job is to get out of the traffic lane if you can move safely. Little Rock’s wide, high-speed arterials — Cantrell Road, University Avenue, Asher Avenue, Markham Street, Colonel Glenn Road — are dangerous for anyone on foot, especially after a crash when other drivers may not see you.

Call 911 immediately. If the driver who hit you is still at the scene, do not let them leave without police documenting the incident. If the driver fled, give the dispatcher every detail you can: vehicle make, model, color, direction of travel, any part of the plate number. Hit-and-run pedestrian crashes are a persistent problem across the Little Rock metro.

Even if your injuries seem minor, get police on the scene. A crash report is your most important piece of evidence. Without it, proving what happened becomes exponentially harder.

Pedestrian injuries are almost never minor. When a 4,000-pound vehicle hits an unprotected human body, the result is broken bones, head trauma, spinal injuries, internal bleeding, and severe soft tissue damage. You may feel functional at the scene because of adrenaline, but that doesn’t mean you’re okay.

Get to an emergency room. UAMS Medical Center (4301 W. Markham St.) is Arkansas’s only adult Level I Trauma Center and the referral hub for the most complex, life-threatening injuries in the state. CHI St. Vincent Infirmary (2 St. Vincent Circle) and Baptist Health Medical Center (9601 Baptist Health Dr.) also have 24/7 emergency departments. For children struck by vehicles, Arkansas Children’s Hospital (1 Children’s Way) is the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center.

A same-day medical visit does two things: it gets you treated, and it creates a documented link between the crash and your injuries. If you wait days or weeks to see a doctor, the insurance company will argue your injuries came from something else or aren’t as serious as you claim.

If you’re physically able, pull out your phone before you leave the scene. Photograph the vehicle that hit you — front end, license plate, any damage to the hood or bumper. Pedestrian impacts leave distinctive marks on vehicles: dents in the hood, cracked windshields, broken headlights. Those marks are evidence.

Photograph the intersection or road where you were hit. Capture crosswalk markings (or the lack of them), traffic signals, sight lines, lighting conditions, and any road hazards. Take wide shots that show the full scene and close-ups of specific details.

If witnesses saw what happened, get their names and phone numbers before they leave. Witness testimony is often the deciding factor in pedestrian cases, especially when the driver claims they didn’t see you. Also look for security cameras on nearby buildings and businesses — footage can be requested through your attorney or the police investigation.

Write down exactly where you were when you were hit. Were you in a crosswalk? At an intersection? Midblock? Which direction were you walking? Where was the car coming from? These details matter for determining right-of-way under Arkansas law.

Arkansas law gives pedestrians the right-of-way in crosswalks. Under Ark. Code § 27-51-1002, drivers must yield to pedestrians crossing within any crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the driver’s half of the roadway or close enough to be in danger. When a vehicle stops at a crosswalk for a pedestrian, other vehicles may not overtake and pass that stopped vehicle.

Pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to vehicles (Ark. Code § 27-51-1003). Between adjacent signalized intersections, pedestrians may not cross except in marked crosswalks. Pedestrians may not suddenly step into traffic creating an immediate hazard.

Critically, drivers must always exercise due care to avoid hitting pedestrians, regardless of who has the right-of-way. Arkansas courts have consistently held that the duty to avoid striking a pedestrian rests primarily on the driver, who controls a vehicle capable of causing serious injury or death. A driver who hits a pedestrian cannot simply claim the pedestrian was in the wrong — the law requires drivers to take active steps to avoid a collision.

Arkansas’s modified comparative negligence rule (Ark. Code § 16-64-122) applies to pedestrian accidents. If you’re found partially at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you’re 50% or more at fault, you get nothing. At exactly 50/50, the plaintiff recovers zero — Arkansas uses a stricter bar than the 51% threshold used in many other states.

Insurance companies will try to blame pedestrians. They’ll argue you were distracted by your phone, wearing dark clothing at night, crossing outside a crosswalk, or stepping into the road too suddenly. Some of these arguments carry weight; many don’t. A driver who was speeding, texting, running a red light, or impaired carries the bulk of the fault regardless of what the pedestrian was doing.

Little Rock’s pedestrian fatality rate is disproportionately high for a city its size. The wide, high-speed arterials that define Little Rock’s road network — built for cars, not people — are a major contributing factor. A pedestrian hit at 40 mph has roughly an 85% chance of dying, compared to about 10% at 20 mph. Many of Little Rock’s surface streets carry traffic well above 35 mph with limited pedestrian infrastructure, few marked crosswalks, and inconsistent sidewalk coverage.

Pedestrian accident injuries tend to be severe and the damages reflect that. Arkansas has no cap on compensatory damages in personal injury cases — the state constitution (Art. 5, § 32) prohibits the legislature from limiting damages.

Medical expenses include everything from the ambulance and ER visit through surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and any future treatment. Pedestrian injuries — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, pelvic fractures, internal organ injuries — often require months or years of ongoing care.

Lost wages cover time missed from work during recovery and any permanent reduction in your earning capacity. If a TBI or spinal injury prevents you from returning to the same type of work, the difference in lifetime earnings is compensable.

Pain and suffering accounts for the physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, PTSD, and the lasting psychological impact of being hit by a car. Many pedestrian crash survivors develop a persistent fear of crossing streets that affects their daily life for years. You can also recover for property damage — your phone, laptop, glasses, clothing, or any mobility device you were using.

You have three years from the date of the pedestrian accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Arkansas (Ark. Code § 16-56-105). If the crash was fatal, the wrongful death statute of limitations is also 3 years from the date of the injury (Ark. Code § 16-62-102).

If you were hit by a city vehicle, a Central Arkansas Transit (CAT) bus, or on a road with a dangerous design defect maintained by the city or state, you may have a claim against a government entity. Claims against the State of Arkansas go through the Arkansas Claims Commission with specific procedural requirements. Claims against the City of Little Rock or Pulaski County may also have different notice deadlines.

Don’t let the three-year window lull you into waiting. Evidence degrades. Witnesses forget. Surveillance footage gets overwritten — often within 30 to 90 days. The sooner you start, the stronger your case.

Pedestrian crash injuries are frequently severe — traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, compound fractures, and permanent scarring. Medical costs can exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, especially when injuries require surgery, rehabilitation, or ongoing care.

An experienced attorney can determine whether the driver violated traffic laws, identify road design defects that contributed to the crash (missing crosswalks, poor sight lines, inadequate lighting, lack of sidewalks), obtain the police report and any surveillance footage, and calculate the full value of your claim including future medical costs and lost earning capacity.

Most personal injury attorneys in Little Rock work on contingency — no upfront cost, and you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you. A free consultation can clarify whether you have a viable claim, what deadlines apply, and what your case might be worth.

Don’t wait for the insurance company to make the first move. Their adjusters are trained to minimize payouts, and they start building their defense from day one. Having your own attorney levels the playing field.