7 die in accidents on state roadways

Seven people have died in accidents on state roadways in the past week, according to preliminary reports from the Arkansas State Police.

A Harrison man died after his vehicle veered off a road and struck a tree in Boone County on Wednesday, state police said.

Jerry Dale Cantrell, 72, was driving a 2000 Toyota south on Arkansas 281 near Bergman about 5:50 a.m. when the vehicle left the highway at a curve and struck a tree, authorities said.

One Arkansas man was killed and another hurt Monday when a pickup overturned on a state highway, authorities said.

Kevin Williams Jr., 32, of Pearcy was driving a 2003 Chevy pickup south on Arkansas 227 in Garland County shortly after 6:15 p.m. when the truck crossed the centerline, according to a state police report.

Police say the vehicle then overcorrected, causing it to overturn. It was rainy and roads were wet at the time of the crash, state police said.

Williams suffered fatal injuries. A passenger in the pickup, 36-year-old Timothy Marguis of Hot Springs, was also hurt, though the extent of his injuries was not listed in the report.

A 33-year-old Arkansas man was killed Monday when his car traveled across the centerline and hit an oncoming pickup head-on, authorities said.

It happened about 5:30 p.m. on U.S. 425 north of Hamburg in Ashley County.

Hamburg resident Steve Dustin Reed was driving a 2000 Buick Regal south on the highway when the car veered across the line and hit a northbound Ford F-250, according to a state police report.

Reed suffered fatal injuries. The pickup driver, 33-year-old Jason Birch of Hamburg, suffered unspecified injuries.

A 29-year-old man was killed when he lost control of his vehicle on a road in Searcy County on Friday, according to a state police report.

Huntsville resident Justin Shane Williams was driving east on Pindall Grove Road in a 1982 Jeep at 6:05 a.m. when the vehicle ran off the road and overturned, fatally injuring him. It was foggy but dry at the time of the crash, state police said.

Also Friday, two north Arkansas residents in their 80s were killed in a two-vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer, state police said.

The accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. when Harlin Case, 84, of Hardy was driving a 2000 GMC south on U.S. 63 in Fulton County, according to a preliminary report.

State police said Case crossed the centerline into the path of a northbound 2006 Kenworth truck. He and a passenger in his vehicle, 83-year-old Leta Case of Hardy, were killed, according to the report.

A 62-year-old man was killed Friday night while walking across a road in Sebastian County, according to an Arkansas State Police report.

The pedestrian crash happened at 8:20 p.m. on Grand Avenue as Fort Smith resident Billy Ray Nichols ran in front of an eastbound pickup while crossing from north to south at 36th Street, the agency said.

Police said the driver of a Dodge Ram could not stop in time and fatally hit Nichols in the road's outside lane.

Nichols was taken to Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith, where he was later pronounced dead, the report notes.

Metro on 11/11/2016

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