Head-on crash on I-540 claims life of teenager
Posted on Wednesday, October 1, 2008
BROOKE McNEELY Northwest Arkansas Times Members of the Boston Mountain Fire Department clean up after a 2007 Toyota Tundra hit head on with a 2002 Honda Civic Tuesday on southbound Interstate 540 just south of the Bobby Hopper Tunnel. The Tundra was traveling northbound in the southbound lane before hitting the Civic and killing its driver.
One person died and another sustained serious injuries Tuesday following a two-car accident just south of the Bobby Hopper Tunnel on Interstate 540.
Richard A. Meinke, 47, of Cabot was driving a 2007 Toyota Tundra northbound in the inside southbound lane and collided head-on with a southbound 2002 Honda Civic, killing its driver, 19-yearold Bradley D. Norris, also of Cabot, according to the fatal accident report from the Arkansas State Police.
Meinke was airlifted by Air Evac to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. Charlotte Jordan, the house supervisor at the medical center, said Meinke was in fair condition as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The accident happened 11 miles south of West Fork at about 1:40 p. m., according to the report.
John Luther, Washington County emergency management director, arrived on the scene just after 2 p.m. Tuesday and reported seeing two victims trapped in separate vehicles.
"The traffic was backed up for at least two or three miles,"he said. "Responding agencies were on the scene for at least an hour."
Agencies that responded to the accident included Boston Mountain and West Fork firefighters, sheriff 's deputies from Crawford and Washington counties, Air Evac, Arkansas State Police, Central Emergency Medical Service and Washington County Emergency Management.
"Considering the location and traffic volume, from the emergency management side, it went real smooth," Luther said. "The scene was very well organized and the multiagency response went well. We had good information coming from dispatch and consulted with each other at the scene."
Luther said the tunnel didn't appear to be a contributing factor to the accident.
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