LITTLE ROCK — An Arkansas State Claims Commission panel has unanimously awarded $250,000 to a Northwest Arkansas man whose car slammed into the rear of a slow-moving Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department vehicle in 2009 on U.S. 412.
The 2000 Hyundai Elantra driven by Michael Brian Turner, 21, slammed into the dump truck on July 13, 2009, at the bridge over the White River about 10 miles east of Springdale, according to filings in the case.
The dump truck was following behind a department street sweeper, which was cleaning the shoulders of the bridge when the crash occurred.
Turner suffered a broken leg and cuts on his face, spent several days in the hospital and a few months in physical therapy before returning to “limited-duty” work. He was cleared to resume all normal activities in July. Insurance through his employer covered $148,495.53 of his medical costs. He had $500.12 in outof-pocket medical expenses, plus $10,464 in lost wages and $2,420 for his totaled car.
A three-member claims commission panel heard the case Thursday. Its one-page decision, which found the Highway and Transportation Department liable and awarded the money for Turner’s “pain and suffering, was released Monday.
In the claim, Turner said that on the morning of the crash he was traveling west on U.S. 412, a four-lane divided highway with a posted speed limit of 65 mph, on his way to work at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Springdale. He was following a white truck for a few miles in the left lane when the truck suddenly veered into the right lane. Turner suddenly was confronted with a “dump truck completely blocking the left lane,” according to filings. Turner slammed on the brakes, skidded 77 feet and crashed into the dump truck’s undercarriage.
The dump truck was acting as a escort vehicle for a Highway and Transportation Department street sweeper, which was cleaning the bridge shoulders.
The Highway and Transportation Department crew should have closed the lane and included signs and other safety practices. An expert retained by Turner’s attorneydocumented another Highway and Transportation Department crew using the recommended safety practices after Turner’s crash.
The department noted that according to police reports, Turner didn’t mention any other vehicle between him and the dump truck before the crash, and the maintenance crew was following national standards for traffic safety. The crew wasn’t required to follow those standards because they weren’t using an entire traffic lane and they slowed down only long enough to clean the shoulder of the 630-foot span before speeding up again.
The other crew cited by the expert was in the Mountain Home area on a road with hills and curves, which has different standards than one with a sight line of greater than a half-mile.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 11/24/2010