Though it's often a driver's instinct to get out and survey the damage after a wreck, officials say this creates more danger as conditions become icy in parts of Arkansas.
Rogers resident Joseph Palasak, 57, was fatally struck Saturday after left his vehicle following a crash on a bridge on Interstate 49 in Washington County, state police reported. Several similar incidents have been reported on icy roads over the years, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Palasak was walking toward the rear of his 2016 Honda Pilot near mile marker 51 when a 2003 Jeep Cherokee driving northbound lost control, sliding and hitting Palasak and his vehicle.
The impact forced the 57-year-old over the side of the bridge, the report states, and he sustained fatal injuries.
"If you hit ice and lose control, there is a good chance someone else behind you will do the same," state police spokeswoman Liz Chapman told Arkansas Online in an email, noting that black ice often isn't visible to drivers.
State police as well as the Arkansas Department of Transportation recommend that anyone who gets in a crash on an icy road should call 911 and wait inside the vehicle for responders to help them leave the road safely.
"The vehicle does promise more protection to the individual," Department of Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle said.
Drivers who run into ice often either hit the brakes or panic and overcorrect, Chapman said, which can send the vehicle into an "unrecoverable spin." Instead, motorists should turn the wheels in the direction the back of the vehicle is sliding, she said.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock predicts colder air throughout Arkansas later in the week and a chance of wintry precipitation in the northern part of the state.
If your vehicle is involved in an accident because of #arwx ice, do not get out and survey the damage. Another #artraffic vehicle could come along and slide on the same patch of ice and hit you. Wait until until emergency responders have arrived.
— Arkansas DOT (@myARDOT) February 11, 2018
