Arkansas is an at-fault state, which means the driver who causes a crash is responsible for the resulting harm.
Injured victims generally have three years to file a personal injury lawsuit, can still recover money when partly to blame as long as their share of fault stays below 50%, and may seek payment for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
A 2025 law has also changed how medical expenses are valued in these claims.
These rules decide whether you receive fair payment or absorb the costs of someone else’s mistake yourself.
This guide explains how Arkansas car accident law works in 2026, where recent changes have shifted the ground, and what injured drivers can do to protect a claim.
Is Arkansas a No-Fault State or an At-Fault State?
Arkansas is an at-fault state, not a no-fault state.
The driver who causes a crash, along with that driver’s insurance company, is financially responsible for the injuries and property damage that follow.
This is different from no-fault states, where each driver’s own insurer pays for that driver’s medical bills no matter who caused the wreck.
Because Arkansas follows the at-fault, or tort, system, an injured person can file a claim directly against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance or file a personal injury lawsuit in court.
The practical effect is that fault matters at every stage of an Arkansas car accident claim.
Insurance adjusters investigate who was responsible, and the answer controls who pays and how much.
It also means an injured driver carries the burden of proving that the other driver’s careless behavior caused the crash.
That burden carries weight in a state with dangerous roads.
Arkansas recorded 590 roadway fatalities in 2023 and had the fifth-highest motor vehicle fatality rate in the country, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
A driver hit by a distracted motorist on Interstate 30 near Little Rock, for example, would pursue compensation from that motorist’s insurer rather than simply collecting from a personal policy.
Understanding that fault drives the entire process helps explain why the rules in the sections below matter so much.
How Does Fault Affect Your Car Accident Claim in Arkansas?
Arkansas uses modified comparative fault with a 50% bar, set out in Arkansas Code § 16-64-122.
Under this rule, you can recover compensation as long as your share of fault is less than the other party’s, but your award is reduced by your own percentage of fault.
If your fault reaches 50% or more, you recover nothing at all.
This system recognizes that more than one driver often contributes to a crash.
One driver might have been speeding while the other failed to signal a lane change.
The law sorts out those shares and adjusts the recovery accordingly.
What Happens If You Share Part of the Blame for the Crash?
Sharing part of the blame reduces your recovery but does not automatically end your claim, as long as your fault stays below 50%.
The table below shows how different fault percentages affect a claim with $100,000 in total damages.
| Your share of fault | Can you recover? | Amount received on $100,000 in damages |
| 0% | Yes | $100,000 |
| 20% | Yes | $80,000 |
| 49% | Yes | $51,000 |
| 50% | No | $0 |
| 70% | No | $0 |
The 49% and 50% rows show why this rule is so demanding.
A driver found 49% at fault still recovers more than half of the damages, while a driver found 50% at fault recovers nothing.
A single percentage point can be the difference between a meaningful payment and walking away with empty hands.
This is why fault percentages are often the most heavily contested part of an Arkansas car accident claim.
How Do Insurance Companies Use Comparative Fault Against You?
Insurance companies use comparative fault as a tool to shrink or eliminate what they owe.
Because every percentage point assigned to you lowers their payout, adjusters look for any argument that shifts blame onto the injured driver.
An adjuster might claim you were speeding slightly, that you could have braked sooner, or that you failed to take some action that would have avoided the collision.
The seatbelt argument appears often in Arkansas claims.
Statewide data shows that no restraint was used in 46% of motorist deaths in 2023, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
Insurers use that pattern to argue that a victim’s own choices increased the severity of an injury, which can push an assigned fault percentage higher.
Countering these arguments takes solid evidence about how the crash actually happened, which is why building a strong factual record early is so important.
How Long Do You Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Arkansas?
Arkansas gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, under Arkansas Code § 16-56-105.
This statute of limitations covers claims for bodily injury, pain and suffering, and related personal losses.
If you miss the deadline, the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how clear the other driver’s fault was.
Property damage claims also carry a three-year window in Arkansas.
When a crash causes a death, a wrongful death claim is governed by a separate statute, Arkansas Code § 16-62-102, and generally must be filed within three years.
A few situations can pause, or toll, the three-year clock.
When the injured person is under 18 or is mentally incapacitated, the deadline may be extended until that person reaches adulthood or regains capacity.
The clock can also be affected when the at-fault driver leaves the state after the crash.
The three-year deadline applies to filing a lawsuit, not to opening an insurance claim.
Waiting near the end of that window is still risky, because evidence disappears, witnesses move and forget, and insurers question why a seriously injured person delayed.
Starting early protects both the claim and its value.
What Car Insurance Coverage Does Arkansas Require?
Arkansas requires every driver to carry liability insurance with limits of at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for injury or death of two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage, under Arkansas Code § 27-22-104.
These figures are written as 25/50/25 and represent the Arkansas minimum liability insurance every motorist must hold.
Liability coverage pays for harm the insured driver causes to other people, not for that driver’s own injuries or vehicle.
The trouble with these Arkansas car insurance laws is that the minimum limits are low.
A single trip to the emergency room, a few days of treatment, or one surgery can exceed $25,000 quickly.
When that happens, the at-fault driver’s minimum policy runs out before the injured person’s bills are covered.
That gap is where the next two coverages become critical.
Does Arkansas Require Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
Arkansas does not strictly require uninsured motorist coverage, but it comes very close.
Insurance companies must offer uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage, and that protection is automatically included in your policy unless you reject it in writing.
The same opt-out approach applies to personal injury protection, often called PIP, which can pay a portion of medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault.
Uninsured motorist coverage matters because a meaningful share of drivers on Arkansas roads carry no insurance at all.
This coverage steps in when an at-fault driver has no policy or flees the scene in a hit-and-run.
Many drivers reject these coverages to save a small amount on premiums, then discover after a serious crash that they removed the very protection they needed.
Checking your own policy and keeping uninsured and underinsured coverage in place is one of the most useful steps an Arkansas driver can take.
What Happens If the At-Fault Driver Has Too Little Insurance?
When the at-fault driver carries only the state minimum and your losses are larger, underinsured motorist coverage fills the gap.
Suppose a driver with a $25,000 bodily injury policy causes a crash on Interstate 49 in Northwest Arkansas, and your medical bills reach $90,000.
The at-fault policy covers only the first $25,000, and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy can address the remaining loss up to your limits.
Without that coverage, you would be left pursuing the at-fault driver personally, and many drivers have few assets to collect from.
Some Arkansas policies also allow stacking, which combines coverage across multiple vehicles on the same policy.
A household with three insured vehicles may be able to draw on the uninsured or underinsured limits of each one, depending on the policy language.
This can make a real difference between full payment and a serious financial shortfall after a major crash.
What If an Uninsured Driver Is Involved in Your Arkansas Crash?
An uninsured driver changes how you collect compensation, but it rarely ends your claim.
A meaningful share of drivers on Arkansas roads carry no insurance, so this situation is common, and Arkansas law still leaves injured people with a clear path forward.
The two scenarios below, being hit by an uninsured driver and being uninsured yourself, each have a different answer.
What Happens If You Are Hit by an Uninsured Driver?
If an uninsured driver hits you, your own uninsured motorist coverage is usually the first and best source of payment.
This coverage lets your insurer pay your injury claim as if it were standing in for the at-fault driver’s missing liability policy, up to your chosen limits.
You can also file a personal injury lawsuit directly against the uninsured driver.
The practical problem with that route is collection, because a driver who cannot afford insurance often has few assets, and a court judgment is only worth what you can actually recover.
Compensation may also exist in places you do not expect, such as the auto policy of a household family member you live with.
A hit-and-run is treated as an uninsured driver situation, so your uninsured motorist coverage can apply even when the fleeing driver is never identified.
That makes a prompt police report and fast evidence gathering especially important after a hit-and-run.
Can You Still Recover If You Were Uninsured at the Time of the Crash?
Yes, being uninsured does not bar you from recovering for injuries that an at-fault driver caused you.
Arkansas is not a “no pay, no play” state, unlike Louisiana and several others that block uninsured drivers from recovering certain damages such as pain and suffering.
An uninsured Arkansas driver who is hurt by another driver’s careless behavior can still pursue the full range of damages, including pain and suffering, as long as that person’s own share of fault stays below 50%.
This point matters because many injured people, including drivers without a license or with an uncertain immigration status, wrongly assume that being uninsured cancels their right to a claim.
Driving without insurance can still bring separate penalties, such as fines and a registration suspension, but those consequences are handled apart from your injury claim and do not erase it.
The situation is different if you were the at-fault driver and carried no insurance, because you can then be held personally responsible for the other party’s losses.
How Does Arkansas’s Act 28 Change What You Can Recover for Medical Bills?
Act 28, passed in 2025 as House Bill 1204, limits the medical expenses an injured person can present in a personal injury claim to the amounts actually paid or still owed, rather than the full amount a hospital billed.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the measure on February 11, 2025, and it took effect on August 4, 2025, according to the Arkansas General Assembly.
The law amended Arkansas Code § 16-64-120 and changed a long-standing rule known as the collateral source rule.
Before Act 28, an injured person could present the full billed amount of medical care as a measure of harm, even when health insurance later negotiated that figure down.
Hospitals often bill a high sticker price, then accept a much lower negotiated rate from an insurer.
Under Act 28, only the lower paid or owed amount can be presented as evidence of past medical damages.
For accident victims, this change can reduce the value of a claim, especially when health insurance has already paid bills at a discounted rate.
It also makes careful handling of medical records and billing documents more important than before, because the difference between billed and paid amounts now directly affects recovery.
Anyone dealing with significant medical treatment after an Arkansas crash should understand how this rule applies to their specific situation before settling.
How Do You Prove Fault in an Arkansas Car Accident?
Proving fault in an Arkansas car accident means showing that the other driver acted carelessly and that the carelessness caused your injuries.
Because Arkansas places the burden on the injured person, the strength of the evidence often decides how much an insurer or jury assigns to each driver.
The most useful evidence falls into a few clear categories.
Scene evidence captures details that vanish within hours, such as skid marks, debris fields, vehicle resting positions, and roadway conditions.
Photographs taken at the scene preserve facts that no longer exist once vehicles are towed and the road is cleared.
Vehicle data is increasingly central to serious crash cases.
Many modern vehicles store information in event data recorders that can show speed, braking, and steering in the seconds before impact.
Surveillance footage from nearby businesses, traffic cameras, and home security systems can capture a crash from angles no witness saw.
Legal teams can analyze this footage and recorder data to build an objective picture of what happened, which often produces answers faster than relying on memory alone and helps resolve disputes when drivers tell conflicting stories.
Witness accounts and medical records round out the picture.
Independent witnesses, such as drivers in nearby vehicles, usually carry more weight than passengers, who may be seen as biased.
Consistent medical treatment ties the injuries to the crash and undercuts an insurer’s claim that the harm came from something else.
Distracted driving evidence deserves special attention, because Arkansas prohibits texting while driving for all drivers.
Phone records showing device activity at the moment of a crash can be powerful proof that the other driver failed to keep a proper lookout.
What Compensation Can You Recover After an Arkansas Car Accident?
Arkansas allows injured victims to recover both economic and non-economic damages from an at-fault driver, and the state does not cap these damages in a typical car accident case.
That uncapped structure means a jury can award compensation that reflects the true severity of a serious injury.
The categories below explain what those damages cover.
What Economic Damages Can You Claim?
Economic damages cover the measurable financial losses caused by the crash.
These include emergency treatment, diagnostic imaging, surgery, hospital stays, medication, physical therapy, and assistive equipment.
They also include lost wages for time missed during recovery and the value of sick days or vacation time used for medical appointments.
For people whose injuries prevent a return to their previous job, diminished earning capacity addresses the long-term loss.
A poultry plant worker near Springdale who suffers a back injury and must move to lower-paying work, for example, can claim the difference in earnings over time.
Economic damages are usually proven with bills, pay records, tax returns, and supporting professional opinions.
What Non-Economic and Future Damages Can You Claim?
Non-economic damages compensate for harms that do not come with a receipt, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
These losses are real, but they are harder to quantify, and insurers often undervalue them for that reason.
Future damages are a separate and often overlooked category.
When an injury requires ongoing treatment, prevents a return to work, or causes permanent disability, the claim can include the projected cost of that future care and lost income.
Establishing future damages usually depends on opinions from treating physicians and other professionals who can describe the long-term outlook.
Leaving future damages out of a settlement is a common and costly mistake, because once a release is signed, additional money is rarely available later.
Can You Recover Diminished Value for Your Vehicle?
Diminished value is generally recognized in Arkansas as a recoverable loss in a third-party property damage claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer.
Diminished value is the drop in a vehicle’s resale price that remains even after quality repairs, because buyers pay less for a car with a crash on its history report.
A nearly new vehicle repaired after a collision can still lose thousands of dollars in market value, and a diminished value claim seeks that difference.
Proving the loss usually requires a professional appraisal comparing the vehicle’s pre-crash and post-repair market value.
Property damage and injury claims are treated as separate matters, so accepting payment for vehicle repairs does not prevent an injured person from pursuing an injury claim.
What Tactics Do Insurance Companies Use Against Arkansas Car Accident Victims?
Insurance companies rely on specific, repeatable tactics to reduce what they pay on Arkansas car accident claims.
Recognizing these tactics is the first step to protecting a claim.
The recorded statement is one of the most common.
An adjuster often calls within hours of a crash, while the victim is in pain or on medication, and asks for a recorded statement.
Casual remarks like “I’m okay” or an apology can later be replayed to argue that injuries were minor or that the victim accepted blame.
Social media surveillance is a second tactic.
Insurers review public posts and photos for any image that appears to contradict an injury claim, such as a picture of physical activity or travel, and privacy settings do not always keep that content out of reach.
Rushed settlement offers are a third.
An insurer may extend a quick check before the full extent of an injury is known, because an early, low settlement closes the claim before expensive future treatment becomes obvious.
Disputing medical causation is a fourth.
Adjusters point to gaps in treatment, pre-existing conditions, or delayed symptoms to argue that the crash did not cause the injury.
A fifth tactic is using comparative fault to inflate the victim’s share of blame, since every added percentage point lowers the payout and a share of 50% erases the claim entirely.
After Act 28, expect insurers to focus closely on the difference between billed and paid medical amounts, since that distinction now directly affects how much they owe.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid to Protect Your Arkansas Car Accident Claim?
The most damaging mistakes after an Arkansas crash usually involve evidence, timing, and communication with insurers.
Avoiding them keeps a claim strong.
Delaying medical care is a frequent error.
Adrenaline can mask pain for hours or days, and some injuries, including soft tissue damage and concussions, do not appear right away.
Seeking prompt care and following the treatment plan ties the injury to the crash and removes an easy argument for the insurer.
Posting on social media is another.
Even an innocent photo can be twisted to suggest a victim is exaggerating, so it is wise to limit posting while a claim is open.
Giving a recorded statement without preparation, accepting the first settlement offer, and waiting too long to act all weaken claims as well.
Preserving evidence quickly matters, because surveillance footage is often overwritten within days and vehicle data can be lost once a car is repaired or scrapped.
Sending preservation requests early helps keep that proof available.
Treating the insurance process as routine paperwork is itself a mistake, because the other driver’s insurer is working to pay as little as possible.
Talk to an Arkansas Car Accident Attorney About Your Case
Arkansas car accident law gives injury victims real protections, but the filing deadline, the 50% comparative fault bar, and the new medical expense rules under Act 28 make early and informed action important.
Acting quickly protects both the evidence and the value of your claim.
As Arkansas car accident lawyers, Shamieh Law helps injured people across the state understand these rules and pursue full and fair payment for their losses.
Our team treats every client like family, responds fast, and has recovered more than $300 million for injured clients by pairing careful preparation with determined advocacy.
You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Contact our team today by calling 501-361-1334 to talk through your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Arkansas a no-fault state?
No, Arkansas is an at-fault state, sometimes called a tort state. The driver who causes a crash, and that driver’s insurance company, is financially responsible for the injuries and property damage. An injured person can file a claim against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance or file a personal injury lawsuit, but must prove the other driver was at fault.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Arkansas?
You generally have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Arkansas, under Arkansas Code Section 16-56-105. Property damage claims also carry a three-year limit. Missing the deadline usually means the court will dismiss the case. The clock can be paused when the injured person is a minor or is mentally incapacitated.
Can I still recover money if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Yes, as long as your share of fault is less than 50%. Arkansas uses modified comparative fault under Arkansas Code Section 16-64-122, so your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 50% or more at fault, you cannot recover anything, which makes a single percentage point extremely important.
Does Arkansas require uninsured motorist coverage?
Arkansas does not strictly require uninsured motorist coverage, but insurers must offer it, and it is included in your policy unless you reject it in writing. The same opt-out rule applies to underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection. This coverage pays your losses when an at-fault driver has no insurance or flees the scene in a hit-and-run.
Can I file a car accident claim in Arkansas if I did not have insurance?
Yes. Arkansas is not a “no pay, no play” state, so being uninsured does not bar you from recovering for injuries an at-fault driver caused. You can still pursue the full range of damages, including pain and suffering, as long as your share of fault stays below 50%. Penalties for driving uninsured are handled separately from your injury claim.
How does Act 28 affect my medical expense recovery in Arkansas?
Act 28, effective August 4, 2025, limits the past medical expenses you can present in a claim to the amounts actually paid or still owed, rather than the full amount a hospital billed. Because hospitals often bill more than insurers pay, this change can lower claim value, so careful handling of medical and billing records now matters more.
Can I recover diminished value for my vehicle after an Arkansas crash?
Diminished value is generally recoverable in Arkansas as part of a third-party property damage claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer. It represents the resale value your vehicle loses even after quality repairs, because buyers pay less for a car with a crash history. Proving the loss usually requires a professional appraisal comparing pre-crash and post-repair market value.