North Little Rock, AR — May 4, 2025, Connor Latham was killed in a truck accident at about 7 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 40.

Authorities said a 1990 Jeep swerved to avoid a stopped vehicle in traffic near mile marker 159 and crashed into the back of a 2022 Freightliner semi-truck.

Jeep driver Connor Latham, 19, of Leslie died at the scene of the crash, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Pulaski County crash at this time. The accident is still being investigated.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a driver swerves to avoid one hazard on a busy interstate, only to strike a semi-truck and lose his life, it shows how quickly even the right reflexes can lead to devastating outcomes. This fatal crash on I-40 near mile marker 159 brings up a familiar issue in commercial vehicle litigation: how safe is the space that trucks occupy in stop-and-go traffic, and are they always as visible and avoidable as we assume?

From a legal standpoint, rear-ending a semi-truck might seem straightforward at first glance. But in my experience, it’s anything but. We need to look carefully at what caused the Jeep to swerve in the first place, and whether the truck was positioned and lit in a way that gave following drivers a fair opportunity to avoid it. A sudden stop in freeway traffic, especially near dusk, can set off a chain of events that no one driver can fully control.

When a truck is stopped or moving slowly on a highway, the rules of the road require more than just being in the right place. A commercial truck has to be visible, reasonably predictable and operating in a way that gives others a fair chance to respond. That includes functional brake lights, proper reflective tape and avoiding unnecessary stops in high-speed lanes. If any of those elements were missing, it may have made the collision more likely, even if the truck driver wasn’t actively at fault in the moment.

On the flip side, it’s just as important to understand how the Jeep’s movement unfolded. Swerving to avoid a stopped car means the driver was reacting, not planning, and that speaks to how little time he likely had. That doesn’t automatically shift fault, but it does frame the incident as more than a case of inattention or recklessness.

Trucks and cars sharing space on a highway is always a fragile balance. A vehicle as large as a semi should never become an unavoidable obstacle. And if it does, then it’s the job of investigators to find out why, and whether anything could have been done differently. Because one wrong move might be an accident, but a series of missed responsibilities is often negligence. That’s the distinction that matters most to the families left behind.