Arkansas Injury Lawyer Blog

A Memphis man was killed after police say he hit a car head-on going the wrong way on the interstate. This Arkansas auto accident happened on Interstate 40 in Crittenden County, Arkansas.

This car accident follows a recent report that found several recent auto and truck accidents on I 55 in Arkansas were cause by driver fatigue. The area around the Interstate 40 interchange with Interstate 55 has been cursed by many serious accidents. It is very important that all drivers drive cautiously on Arkansas Interstates. If you or a family member would like to speak with an Arkansas accident lawyer, please contact accident lawyer Paul Pfeifer at 501-374-4440.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that last year’s fatal tour bus accident near Dolan Springs, Ariz. was caused by the driver being distracted by his manipulation of the driver’s side door as he was traveling about 70 mph. As the driver attended to the door, the vehicle drifted out of its lane. The driver then made an abrupt steering maneuver to correct the drift resulting in a loss of directional control of the medium-sized bus.

On January 30, 2009 a 29-passenger bus, operated by DW Tour and Charter and carrying passengers crashed on a return trip from Grand Canyon West to Las Vegas. Seven passengers were killed, and nine passengers and the driver sustained minor to serious injuries. In its investigation the NTSB found that other factors, in addition to the driver’s failure to maintain control of his vehicle, contributed to the accident and its severity.

The vehicle was not equipped with a lane departure warning system. This device would have been alerted upon the initial drift from the driving lane. Further, a stability control system, already widely used in automobiles, could have reduced the likelihood of the driver losing control of the bus.

A synopsis of the Board’s report, including the probable cause, conclusions, and recommendations, is available on the NTSB’s website.

Tour buses are often used in Arkansas by groups and churches. It is important that the bus companies provide safe drivers and safe buses. Unfortunately, serious and catastrophic injuries can occur in bus accidents in Arkansas. If you or a family member would like to speak with an Arkansas bus accident attorney, please contact the Pfeifer Law Firm today.

An 18- wheeler accident in Arkansas at the I-30 , I-440 interchange tied up westbound traffic for hours. Arkansas State Police say as the truck driver taking curve into I- 30 West, his load shifted and the 18-wheeler overturned.

This large truck accident shows how important loading trucks is for driver safety. Truck accidents caused by improper loading can lead to accidents that injure the truck driver and other drivers on Arkansas roads. Thankfully, this Arkansas truck accident did not cause a collision with a car or another truck. However, improper loading can lead to the truck losing control and causing a severe accident. After a truck accident, it is important that a truck accident lawyer be involved as soon as possible so that a proper investigation occurs.

If your loved one have been in a truck or car accident, please contact Paul Pfeifer, an Arkansas truck accident attorney, and make sure your rights are fully protected.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a drug company's appeal to block an Arkansas defective drug trial to assess punitive damages. The Court also let stand a compensatory damage award for 2.75 million in the case of a woman who got breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy.

The Plaintiff alleged that the drug company did not provide adequate warning regarding the risk of the drugs. The Plaintiff will now proceed to trial to determine whether punitive damages should be awarded. The trial will take place in Federal District Court in Little Rock.

Little Rock, Arkansas personal injury lawyer Paul Pfeifer has successfully litigated personal injury cases in Arkansas State and Federal Courts. If you have a case involving a personal injury call the Pfeifer Law Firm to discuss your legal rights.

A story recently aired on a local Little Rock, Arkansas television station concerning the quality of Arkansas nursing homes. Unfortunately, abuse and neglect of nursing home patients in Arkansas continues to be a serious problem for Arkansas’ elderly population. Out of the 231 nursing homes that receive Medicare in Arkansas, 32 are rated poorest quality in the National Medicare Rating System. Common injuries included: pressure ulcers (bed sores), dehydration, malnutrition, infections, falls, poor hygiene, elopement, medication errors, assault, and death. Arkansas nursing home residents often become victims of nursing home owners and management that care more about profits than for the people that they are paid to provide care for. The Arkansas nursing homes that currently have a one star rating are:

Arkansas Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Ash Flat Health Care & Rehabilitation Center
Batesville Health Care Center
Beebe Retirement Center, Inc.
Belle Meade, A Rehabilitation & Guest Care Facility
Brookside Health & Rehabilitation Center
Bryant Health Care Center
Byrd Haven Nursing Home
Chapel Ridge Health & Rehab
Clarksville Health & Rehab
Cleveland County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Concordia Care Center
Crystal Falls Health & Rehab Center
Evergreen Health & Rehab
Fayetteville Health & Rehabilitation Center
Golden Living Center – North Little Rock
Golden Living Center – Golf Links
Golden Living Center – Heber Springs
Grace Health Care of Benton
Grace Health Care of Maumelle
Heritage Living Center
Heritage Park Nursing Center
Legacy Health & Rehabilitation Center
Little Rock Health Care & Rehab
Malvern Nursing Home
Mine Creek Health Care Center
Morrilton Health Care Center
Murphy Health & Rehabilitation Center of Piggott
Northridge Health Care & Rehabilitation
Osceola Health Care
Ozark Health Nursing Center
Parkview Rehabilitation and Health Care Center
Pine Lane Health Care
Pleasant Valley Living Center
Prescott Manor Nursing Center
Rivercrest Health & Rehabilitation
Robinson Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Searcy Health Care Center
Sherwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
SkilCare Nursing Center
Springbrook Health & Rehab Center
St. Andrews Place
Stone County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Summit Health & Rehab Center
Three Rivers Nursing Center
Trumann Health & Rehabilitation Center
Van Buren Health Care & Rehabilitation Center
Westwood Health & Rehab
Woodbriar Nursing Home
Woodland Hills Health Care & Rehabilitation
Yell County Nursing Home

If your loved one has suffered potential abuse and neglect by a nursing home in Arkansas, please contact the Office of Long Term Care to file a complaint. The Arkansas Office of Long Term Care can be reached at 1-800-582-4887. Additionally, an Arkansas nursing home abuse lawyer should be contacted as soon as possible to discuss how the rights of the elderly patient and their family can be protected.

Large commercial trucks are more likely to be in fatal accidents on U.S. and Arkansas Highways. Big rigs represent about 3% of all motor vehicle registrations, but 8% percent of all motor vehicle accidents and 12% of all traffic fatalities nationwide each year. One potential cause of these accidents is distracted driving.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently banned texting while driving commercial vehicles and vehicles that weigh more than 10,000 pounds. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are three types of distracted driving:
Visual (taking eyes off road)
Manual (taking hands off wheel)
Cognitive (taking mind off driving)

Cell phone texting is particularly dangerous because it combines all three types of distractions. According to a recent study, truckers are 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident or a close call while texting.

Arkansas injury lawyer Paul Pfeifer has successfully litigated cases against trucking companies in Arkansas accidents involving distracted and fatigued drivers. If you have a case involving a truck accident call the Pfeifer Law Firm to discuss your legal rights.

Teams of lawyers from around the nation are mobilizing for legal battles over the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, filing multiple lawsuits in recent days.

The oil slick will likely poison popular beaches, ruin fisheries, disrupt traffic on the Mississippi River and ruin the tourist trade. There will likely be hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs from Texas to Florida seeking monetary damages from oil producer BP PLC and other companies that ran the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

At least 26 federal lawsuits have been filed since the spill by commercial fishermen, charter boat captains, resort management companies and individual property owners in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Many of the suits claim the disaster was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped a well — a process known as cementing.

Toxic residues remain to this day after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, studies have shown. Thousands of fishermen, cannery workers, landowners and Native Americans were initially awarded $5 billion in punitive damages. That was reduced on appeal to $2.5 billion and then, in 2008, cut down to $507.5 million by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most of the lawsuits filed so far are potential class-action cases, meaning the plaintiffs seek to represent an entire group of people in similar situations who claim to have suffered economic losses due to company negligence.

BP says it will pay for the oil cleanup. A fact sheet on the company website says BP takes responsibility for the response to the spill after the offshore drilling rig explosion and will pay compensation for "legitimate and objectively verifiable" claims for property damage, personal injury and commercial losses.

We all hope that BP will follow up on this promise. All persons and businesses that are damaged by the Gulf oil spill need to speak with an attorney as soon as possible to make sure their damages are documented and ready to be presented to BP. Lawsuits are often necessary to make sure Gulf Coast Oil Spill victims are fully and fairly compensated. If you have been harmed by the Gulf coast oil spill please speak with an attorney who is handling oil damage claims as soon as possible.

An Arkansas Bus Crash has taken the life of a woman and more than 25 Northwest Arkansas residents were injured. The Bus accident occurred on Interstate 40 between Russellville and Clarksville, Arkansas.The bus was on its way back to Bentonville from a religious conference in Little Rock Saturday night when it rolled over on Interstate 40. The Arkansas State Police is working with vehicle specialists to determine the cause of the Bus crash.

According to news reports, the bus hit a guardrail, spun and flipped. Investigations into the causes of bus accidents like this are very important so future Arkansas bus crashes can be avoided. The federal government has found serious safety violations by owners of bus companies that transport church or other groups. It is important that Arkansas groups fully investigate the bus companies they hire to transport their members. Further, if the buses are owned by the Arkansas group, it is vital that the bus get fully and completely checked out before it is used. Safety and mechanical problems are found all too often in bus crash investigations. If you have any questions concerning an Arkansas bus crash, please contact the Pfeifer Law Firm.

The latest report from the Arkansas State Police shows there were 1,913 motorcycle accidents in 2008. The report also states that there were 80 fatalities in Arkansas motorcycle accidents during 2008. The Arkansas traffic accident report shows that over the last 10 years, the number of total motorcycle crashes is increasing. These statistics include motorcycle, ATV and Moped accidents.

Under Arkansas law there is a limited amount of time to file an injury claim for motorcycle accidents. It is important for motorcycle accident victims in Arkansas to speak with an accident lawyer as soon as possible so their rights are fully protected. If you would like to discuss your legal rights, please contact an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer.

One million Infantino Slingrider and Wendy Bellissimo infant slings have been recalled in the United States. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, three infants died in 2009.

This recall comes soon after the Consumer Product Safety Commission's safety alert warning parents that babies under 4 months old should not ride in sling carriers because of the suffocation risk.

According to some reports, the soft fabric of some infant slings that surround an infant's neck can be dangerous. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that there have been 14 infant deaths related to sling-type baby carriers. It is recommended that a baby's face not be covered so it is visible while in the sling.

The Arkansas Product Liability Statute allows a person to sue for damages when a product causes a personal injury. If you have been injured by a dangerous product, please contact an Arkansas personal injury attorney to discuss your legal rights.

One of the most common questions that I get from clients is "How do I get my medical bills paid after an accident?" After an Arkansas car accident, there are several ways to make sure medical bills are paid. First, health insurance should pay the medical bills while the claim of the accident victim is ongoing. However, if the car accident victim does not have health insurance a claim can be filed on their automobile insurance company for medical benefits coverage. Arkansas law mandates that:

Every automobile liability insurance policy covering any private passenger motor vehicle issued or delivered in this state shall provide minimum medical and hospital benefits, income disability, and accidental death benefits, under policy provisions and on forms approved by the Insurance Commissioner, to the named insured and members of his or her family residing in the same household injured in a motor vehicle accident, to passengers injured while occupying the insured motor vehicle, and to persons other than those occupying another vehicle struck by the insured motor vehicle, without regard to fault, as follows:

(1) Medical and Hospital Benefits. All reasonable and necessary expenses for medical, hospital, nursing, dental, surgical, ambulance, funeral expenses, and prosthetic services incurred within twenty-four (24) months after the automobile accident, up to an aggregate of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per person and may include any nonmedical remedial care and treatment rendered in accordance with a recognized religious method of healing. Expenses for hospital room charges may be limited to semiprivate accommodations

This insurance can also be used to reimburse a car accident victim for any out of pocket bills that they incurred. Most people involved in Arkansas car accidents do not understand how this insurance coverage works and they are never provided an explanation from an insurance company. If you or a family member has suffered a car accident, please contact a Little Rock Arkansas car accident attorney to discuss how your bills can be paid and how your rights can be protected.

Drunk drivers cause approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States.

If you are behind the wheel and you have been drinking, you are more dangerous than a man with a gun shooting into a crowd of people. The man with the gun has made his presence of danger known and people can attempt to take cover. If you're driving down the road while intoxicated, the innocent people driving around you have no idea you're drunk behind the wheel and coming right at them.

Here are some facts about alcohol:

- Alcohol remains in your system for up to six hours.

- Alcohol is responsible for an estimated 75% of fatal car crashes occurring between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.

- A driver is considered to be legally intoxicated in Arkansas when his or her blood alcohol content (BAC) level is at or above .08 grams per deciliter.

- To reach a BAC level of .08, a man weighing approximately 170 pounds would need to consume four standard drinks in one hour on an empty stomach. A woman weighing about 140 pounds would need to consume three drinks in one hour.

- In 2007, alcohol-impaired driving caused the deaths of nearly 13,000 Americans.

- On average, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes.

- An estimated 3 in every 10 Americans at some point in their lives will be involved in an alcohol-related collision.

- A BAC level as low as .02 can affect a person’s response time and makes driving more dangerous. The probability of having a wreck increases significantly with a BAC level of .05, and even more rapidly after with a BAC level of .08.

- A driver with a BAC of .08 is 11 times more likely to be in a fatal accident than a driver who has consumed no alcohol.

- In 2007, more than half of drivers driving while intoxicated and involved in fatal crashes had a BAC level of .15, nearly twice the legal limit.

- Drivers are far more likely to be driving while intoxicated or under the influence during the night than during the day. A study done in 2007 showed that 36% of drivers involved in nighttime fatal crashes were legally drunk versus just 9% during daytime collisions.

- Motorcycle drivers are at higher risk of being involved in a fatal drunk driving accident, with 27% of such accidents in 2007 involving at least one drunk motorcycle operator.

- A crash involving alcohol is more than twice as likely to occur on a weekend day than a week day. Approximately 31% of drivers involved in fatal car crashes on the weekend are legally drunk, as opposed to just 15% during the week.

- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), beer is the most common type of alcoholic beverage involved in both DUI arrests and fatal crashes.

- Males are almost twice as likely as females to drink and drive and to be involved in a fatal car crash.

- According to a recent study, a first-time offender of driving while intoxicated has already driven while under the influence more than 80 times before being arrested.

- DUI means driving under the influence of some type drug. DWI means simply driving while intoxicated, and in many states, refers to the use of alcohol.

- A recent study has shown that using a cell phone while driving can be just as dangerous as driving while drunk, causing drivers to run traffic lights and a decreased reaction time to driving conditions.

My wife's aunt was killed by a drunk driver in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was on her way home from work one evening when a drunk driver crossed the center line and hit her head on. Her precious life was cut short because of someone else's decision to take a drink and get behind the wheel. Her family's lives are changed forever.

If you or a family member has been involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver, please contact a Little Rock Arkansas accident lawyer today to discuss your legal rights.