Eleven individuals died on Arkansas roadways in the past seven days, pushing the total of traffic fatalities to 227 to date for the year.
That number is down by 21 from the same reporting period a year ago when 248 deaths had already been recorded in Arkansas by June 24.
One person was killed and four other people were hurt about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 18 in a two-vehicle wreck at an intersection in Chicot County.
The accident occurred when a 2013 Toyota Highlander, westbound on Arkansas 35 and driven by Stephen Baker, 42, of Arkansas City, failed to yield to a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado, which was southbound on U.S. 65 and driven by Faye Stamey, 64, of Saraland, Alabama.
Mary Williams, 76, of Lucedale, Mississippi, a passenger in the Stamey vehicle, was killed in the collision.
Baker, Stamey and another person, Donald Stamey, 64, also of Saraland, Alabama, were injured. The injured were taken to McGehee Hospital and the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Lee Thomas Wise, 46, of Quitman, Texas, was killed about 8:34 a.m. Monday in a single-vehicle wreck on Interstate 30 in Nevada County.
Wise was driving a 2007 model Ford pick-up truck in the eastbound lanes when the truck drove off the north side of the road and went into a ditch, where it struck a tree.
Wise died at the scene.
A Louisiana man died Monday afternoon in an accident involving an ATV and an 18-wheeler in Columbia County, Arkansas.
The accident occurred Monday, June 19, around 3:15 p.m. on Highway 79, one mile north of the Louisiana state line.
A Suzuki ATV driven by Jeffrey Hunter, age 23 of Haynesville, Louisiana, was traveling northbound on the shoulder alongside an 18-wheeler.
The ATV attempted to make a U-turn and collided with the 18-wheeler. Hunter was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Searcy man died after he crashed his vehicle into a tree early Tuesday morning.
Dakota Neal Smithey, 24, was driving west on Foster Chapel Road in White County.
When he traveled near Bostic Road at around 5:15 a.m. he drove off the road and struck a tree, according to ASP.
No other injuries were listed in the report.
A crash in the area of Hot Springs claimed the life of 76-year-old Lyndal Wuertz Tuesday, June 20, 2017.
According to police reports, a 2012 Dodge was headed east on Highway 270 around 5:40 p.m. At the same time, a 2011 Honda moped driven by Wuertz was traveling west on 270 near the intersection of Del Rio Loop and turned into side of the Dodge.
Wuertz was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 40-year-old Mountain View man died after the vehicle he was driving traveled off an Arkansas highway and struck a tree Wednesday.
The single-vehicle crash happened around 8:45 a.m. as Joshua Kellams was traveling east on Arkansas 14 in Stone County.
At one point, Kellams lost control of his 2002 Ford, causing the vehicle to travel off the highway in Mountain View and hit a tree, authorities said.
A minor was killed in Cleburne County after his motorcycle hit a tree on an Arkansas highway on Thursday afternoon.
A 2005 Yamaha was traveling north on Arkansas 25 in Ida shortly before 4 p.m., ran off the road, hit a driveway embankment, then struck a tree, police said.
The young driver of the motorcycle was fatally injured. Police did not report the name or age of the boy.
A 61-year-old Henryetta, Oklahoma, man was killed and his wife injured in a two-vehicle crash about 2 p.m. Thursday at U.S. Highway 65 North and state Highway 14 East near Omaha.
Douglas Dean Wilkes, 61, was northbound on Highway 65 in a 2007 Kia. His wife, Charla Wilkes, also 61, was a passenger in the vehicle.
Carrie McDowell, 82, of Lead Hill was southbound on Highway 65 attempting a left-hand turn onto Highway 14 East in a 2010 Chevrolet HHR, Hutcheson said.
McDowell turned into the path of the Wilkes’ vehicle. The front of the HHR hit the rear driver’s side of the Kia, causing Wilkes to lose control and the vehicle to overturn multiple times.
The Kia traveled about 280 feet from the point of impact and came to rest about 60 feet off the highway.
Douglas Wilkes was killed in the crash, the report said, and Charla Wilkes was taken to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where a hospital spokesman said she was in “serious” condition Friday afternoon.
A wreck on Arkansas 7 in Ouachita County about 3:20 a.m. Friday killed a driver from Houston, Texas.
Alan K. Clark, 53, was driving a 2006 model Volvo south on the highway near the 9-mile marker in rainy and wet conditions.
Clark lost control of the vehicle, which struck a bridge railing. Clark was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Conditions were said to be clear and dry at the time.
Arts Council of Mississippi County assistant director Ken Jackson perished in a two-car crash around 2:13 p.m. Saturday on Highway 18 near County Road 945.
Jackson, 53, of Blytheville was westbound in his 2004 Buick when driver John Ridge of Lake City crossed the centerline in his eastbound 2005 Nissan and apparently caused the head-on collision, the report said.
Ridge, 33, and Jackson’s passenger, 14-year-old Nikoli Bellefeuille of Burnee, Illinois, were transported to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.
