Statistics tell us that a person who drives while reading or sending text messages is 23 more likely to cause or be involved in a crash than other nondistracted drivers.  Typically a crash happens, on average, within three seconds once a driver is distracted.

A young woman in Fayetteville was hit by a vehicle in a crosswalk on the University of Arkansas campus a couple of days ago.   Authorities cited the teen driver who hit the pedestrian with using a handheld device while driving.    In an instant, lives are changed – forever.   And this tragic accident was 100% avoidable.

Here are some reminders when you’re behind the wheel as to how we can do our parts on the roadways to keep others, and ourselves, safe:

Last month a 28-year-old man was arrested after an extensive search by local police following a hit and run accident in Arkansas. The individual had been involved in a near-fatal accident on January 14^th near Fern’s Valley Loop and Arkansas 264. The driver turned himself in after several hours on the run. The victim is still in the hospital facing a tremendously difficult and long-lasting road to recovery with little more than a charitable donation website to support him.

Unfortunately, these types of stories are becoming all-too-common as the number of hit and run accidents in Arkansas increases on pace with national trends. Indeed, this terrible problem is something our nation is facing as a whole. But what’s causing the increase? It may be, in part, due to a crisis of irresponsibility.

Hit and Run Accidents On the Rise Nationwide

Burns are nothing to be trifled with. While the majority of burns seen by ER doctors in Arkansas are minor and can be treated with over-the-counter remedies, serious—even fatal—burns can and do occur when people are uninformed of proper safety practices or ignore standards created to safeguard their wellbeing. Indeed, burns are one of the most serious workplace injuries across all industries in Arkansas and the United States in general.

What Are the Most Common Causes for Workplace Burns in Arkansas?

According to the American Burn Association, a national non-profit dedicated to preventing burn injuries, the four most common causes of burn injuries nationwide are:

Arkansas is an At-Will Employment State

When it comes to employment, Arkansas is an At-Will State. That means that technically an employer or employee can terminate a working relationship at any time with little or no explanation at all. This frees employers from the costly process of providing severance packages and allows employees to change jobs at any time without facing penalties.

However, that doesn’t mean that employers can terminate an employee for the wrong reasons. Under Arkansas law employment is protected under multiple circumstances. If a company violates Arkansas employment law the terminated employee can sue for compensation, reinstatement, or both.

Around 2:30 a.m. this morning a charter bus was found overturned in a ditch near Hot Springs.   The bus was carrying the Orange Mound youth all-star football team and chaperones.   The driver of the charter bus lost control of the bus, causing it to skid off the roadway, ultimately landing on its side in a ditch off I30 near the Hot Springs exit.   A third-grade child was killed in this bus accident, and at least 45 others were injured.   Children between the ages of 8-13 were treated at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.   Two people were airlifted.   The charter bus was owned by a company out of Somerville, Tennessee called Scott Shuttle Service.

Deaths caused by a bus wreck are rare, but obviously no one is immune from the dangers of driving on the interstates and roadways.   The bus driver was interviewed by police, but it is unknown at this time why she lost control.

A few common causes of losing control of a bus include:

Suspected medical malpractice at an Arkansas doctor’s office led to at least seven misdiagnoses and potentially one fatality. That’s the latest from a wide-ranging investigation into Arkansas’s ailing Veteran’s Administration medical care system that has the whole nation watching.

In 2016 potential unsafe practices were reported to officials at the VA Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas after it was revealed that one doctor there was “impaired” yet still treating patients. Investigators began to sift through that doctor’s medical files and immediately spotted significant errors and potentially lethal treatment mistakes. Continue reading

If you slip and fall in a grocery store or place of business because an employee failed to clean up a wet spill, it can derail your life. A common injury in such a case (such as a broken arm) could prevent you from working for days or weeks. The expense of the ER visit and follow up exams could be excessive. It can be too much for your financial situation. But did you know the establishment in which you fell may be required by Arkansas law to pay you for your expenses, your lost productivity, and your pain and suffering?

If you’ve been injured at a retail establishment, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your losses under Arkansas premises liability law. This law was designed to protect victims from injuries suffered because of another entity’s negligence, carelessness, or recklessness. Indeed, most businesses in Arkansas have what’s called general liability insurance which is designed to pay out in accident cases like this.

Arkansas General Liability Insurance

There is no unified statewide law dealing specifically with vicious dog attacks in Arkansas. This can leave victims struggling to get the compensation they deserve after they’ve been bitten and leave dog owners clueless about what their obligations are in regards to protecting family, friends, and the public at large.

One Child Bitten Every Day

Unfortunately, this is an issue that arises all-too-often in our state. According to the National Pit Bull Victims Association (NPBVA) there were six fatal dog attacks in Arkansas between 2010 and 2016—and those six deaths involved pit bulls. However, Dr. Michael Golinko, a plastic surgeon at Arkansas Children’s Hospital who specializes in pediatric dog bites, says that he personally is seeing at least one child injured per day by dog attacks. Most of these victims suffer from minor lacerations but some—most notably those attacked by pit bulls—are bitten multiple times in multiple locations on their body.    There are several breeds of vicious dogs, but without a doubt pit bulls remain high on that list.

Patients Suffering from Inadequate Care May Soon Have More Legal Options Available to Prove Malpractice

In a groundbreaking decision a Pulaski County circuit judge has ruled that a long-standing law that has protected doctors from giving damning testimony at their own malpractice trials in Arkansas is unconstitutional. The law currently gives doctors the right to refuse to answer questions about whether their standard of care and performance was adequate in cases where victims suffered serious—even life-threatening injuries. Indeed, plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits in Arkansas may even be barred from asking such questions of their formerly trusted caregivers.

The monumental moment came about when in 2017 Judge Wendell Griffen (the man who essentially stopped executions in Arkansas) ordered that a plastic surgeon would indeed have to answer questions concerning the quality of care he demonstrated in regards the Arkansas malpractice lawsuit he was facing.