Police: Arkansas teen driving wrong way on interstate dies in crash with tractor-trailer

This screenshot from an Arkansas Department of Transportation camera shows emergency crews on scene of a wreck blocking Interstate 49's northbound lanes in Springdale on Wednesday.
This screenshot from an Arkansas Department of Transportation camera shows emergency crews on scene of a wreck blocking Interstate 49's northbound lanes in Springdale on Wednesday.

A 19-year-old driver died in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 49 early Wednesday, authorities said.

Anna Gadison of Springdale was driving a 2010 Honda Insight south in the northbound lanes in Springdale about 4:20 a.m., according to a report from Arkansas State Police.

Police said the Insight struck a 2016 Volvo tractor-trailer head-on near mile marker 73, which is just north of the U.S. 412 exit.

Gadison suffered fatal injuries. The report also listed another person as injured, but it did not specify which vehicle the person was in or the extent of the injuries.

Northbound lanes of I-49 in Springdale were closed due to the crash, Arkansas State Police spokesman Liz Chapman said. All lanes were blocked until about 7:45 a.m., when two lanes were open with just the inside lane closed, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

The wreck was completely clear by 8:15 a.m. Delays remained as of 10:30 a.m.

Conditions were said to be clear and dry at the time of the crash.

At least 467 people have died in traffic crashes on Arkansas roads this year, according to preliminary figures.

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