Kansas Car Accident Law
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Kansas Car Accident Law For Motor Vehicle Injury Victims
The law in Kansas for people involved in a car accident, motorcycle accident, large truck accident or other injury accident is discussed in this page so that injury victims can understand their legal rights after a motor vehicle collision.
Bull Attorneys® have skilled car accident attorneys and case managers that help maximize the amount of your compensation following a car accident. This is done by using laws, regulations, and standards of care to prove the other driver or their employer is more at fault than you are. We use skilled experts and medical doctors to help determine the proper amount of compensation that you should be given.
Our car accident lawyers use a very specially designed process to evaluate liability and damages and help build your case into a legitimate bodily injury case by having training in understanding medical issues that relate to your injuries. We use detectives and accident reconstruction experts to prove the other driver was at fault.
Who Pays for Medical Bills, Wage Loss, and Property Damage?
Motor vehicle insurance on your vehicle will normally pay the initial medical bills and wage loss through the Personal Injury Protection Benefits on the vehicle. Passengers injured in a car accident will also have the same level of benefits but if they own their own car they must turn to their car insurance policy.
What is Kansas No-Fault Law?
Kansas is one of the states that has a no-fault system of insurance coverage. This means that when a person is in a motor vehicle accident the insurance on their car pays initial medical bills, wage loss, and other PIP benefits regardless of who is at fault.
How Much are Kansas Personal Injury Protection Benefits (PIP)?
Kansas law requires a minimum of $4,500 for medical expenses, $900 a month for up to one year in wage loss, $4,500 for rehabilitation expenses, $25 per day for substitution benefits and $2,000 for funeral expenses.
Can I Buy More than Minimum PIP Benefits?
Yes, different insurance carriers like State Farm, American Family, Allstate, Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Geico and other carriers have higher levels that can be purchased for an additional premium.
Does My Motorcycle Insurance Policy Have Medical and Wage loss or PIP Benefits?
Some do and some do not. Kansas is unique in allowing motorcycle riders who buy insurance coverage to be able to reject the Personal Injury Protection Benefits (PIP) to get a lower premium which is always a bad idea.
What are the minimum Kansas Insurance Limits for Liability Insurance?
Kansas law on minimum levels of insurance under KSA 40-3107 requires that all vehicles carry a minimum level of liability insurance in the amount of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.
How Much Uninsured Motorist Insurance Do I Have?
Kansas law provides that all insurance policies will carry a minimum coverage amount equal to your bodily injury liability insurance unless you knowingly rejected by signing that you understand you are rejecting the higher amount. Uninsured motorist coverage means you are in a motor vehicle that had a collision with an uninsured motorist. The minimum in Kansas is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury liability with equal limits of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
How Much Underinsured Motorist Insurance Do I have?
Kansas law provides that where a driver or passenger has a crash with another at fault driver who has less insurance than the vehicle has on it which allows you to get underinsured motorist coverage when the policy limits are higher than the other driver. This means that you can collect the difference between the two policies for the higher amount.
How much Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Insurance should I buy?
It's a good idea to buy at least $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. This protects you and your passengers if the other driver has no insurance, has only the minimum insurance, or has less coverage than you do. This extra coverage can help pay for your pain and suffering, stress, lost wages, disability, and medical bills.
What is Full Coverage Insurance?
Full coverage insurance means that the policy of insurance has coverage for multiple types of insurance coverage on a motor vehicle.
Liability Coverage. It covers others that you crash into for your fault.
Comprehensive Coverage. For losses from theft, hail, vandalism and other similar acts.
Collision Coverage. This covers property damage to your vehicle even when you are at fault.
How Does Liability Coverage Differ from Full Coverage?
Liability coverage pays for when you cause damage or hurt others in a crash while full coverage pays for damages to your car even when you are at fault.
Property Damage Insurance in Kansas
Kansas law provides that the at fault driver who causes a car or motor vehicle accident which causes property damage must pay for the damages to the damaged vehicle. The at fault driver's insurance should also pay for towing charges and car rental expenses.
How much property damage insurance coverage is required in Kansas?
Kansas law requires all motor vehicles traveling on Kansas roads and highways to carry a minimum of $25,000 of property damage insurance coverage to the other driver.
How much property damage insurance should I buy?
A simple rule is to buy full-coverage insurance that can pay for your car if it gets totaled. If your car is worth $50,000, you should have at least that much coverage. If it's worth more, make sure your full-coverage amount matches the car's fair market value.
Should I Buy Gap Insurance?
You should always buy gap insurance to pay off your car loan.
How Much Will the Insurance Company Pay for My Totaled Car?
Car insurance companies review the damage to your vehicle, and many use a system called CCC to decide what your car is worth. This system often gives values that are too low when a car is totaled. To protect yourself, look online for cars similar to yours—with the same make, model, and mileage—and show those real prices to the insurance adjuster.
How Do I Get a Rental Car After My Car Wreck?
There are 2 normal ways. 1) If you have full coverage car insurance and added rental to your policy then you can easily contact your insurance company to start the rental immediately after a collision; 2) The at fault driver's insurance should set up a car rental while your car is being repaired.
What Compensation and Damages Can I Get After My Car Wreck?
Under Kansas law, you can recover damages for a personal injury if the other person is at fault. These damages include both economic losses and noneconomic losses after a car accident or any other type of personal injury. In 2019, Kansas eliminated the caps on pain and suffering and other noneconomic damages in Hilburn v. Enerpipe, except in wrongful death cases, where the cap still applies.
Economic Damages
Medical Expenses. Includes medical care, hospitalization, and treatment related to the person's personal injury. It includes medication, physical therapy diagnostic tests, radiology tests like CT scans and MRIs and is for your past and future medical expenses.
Economic Losses. Kansas law allows compensation for loss of income, loss of time and all medical expenses you are expected to incur over your lifetime.
Noneconomic Losses. Kansas allows compensation for losses like pain, suffering, disabilities, disfigurement, and any mental anguish from your personal injury over your lifetime.
Property Damage. Kansas allows compensation for your property damage to your car or other vehicle, along with personal items that are broken or destroyed.
Loss of Services. This is sometimes referred to as loss of consortium. It can include normal assistance that a spouse could provide to each other including domestic duties, household services, companionship, aid, comfort and society, sexual relations, affection, and social obligations following a personal injury accident where one spouse is unable to do their normal spousal activities.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful Death. When someone dies because of a car, truck, or motorcycle accident, the heirs can recover compensation if the other driver was at fault. They may recover both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages—such as medical bills, funeral costs, and lost income—are not capped in Kansas. Noneconomic damages, called nonpecuniary losses, are limited to $250,000 under the Kansas Wrongful Death statute.
Economic Damages.
These losses include:
- Loss of marital care, attention, advice, counseling, and protection.
- Loss of earnings that they would have provided to you.
- All expenses for care of the of the spouse up to their death
- Funeral expenses.
Noneconomic Damages.
These losses include:
- Mental anguish, suffering and bereavement.
- Loss of society, comfort, and companionship.
Conscious Pain and Suffering.
In Kansas, heirs can bring a claim for conscious pain and suffering through what is called a survival action. This type of claim seeks compensation when a loved one dies because of someone else's fault but lived for a period of time in a conscious state, experiencing pain and suffering before death. These damages can include:
- Medical expenses incurred before death
- Pain, suffering, and mental anguish the person experienced before passing
Evidence Required to Prove Conscious Pain and Suffering.
Kansas law requires enough evidence to show that an injured person was conscious and experienced pain and suffering after the accident but before their death. Your personal injury lawyer can prove this using several types of evidence, including:
- Passengers who saw the injured person breathing, groaning, moaning, or showing other signs of pain before they died
- Witnesses at the scene, such as other drivers, pedestrians, EMS personnel, law enforcement, or even the at-fault driver
- Ambulance records showing whether the person's pupils responded to light and their surroundings
- Autopsy reports and lab tests from the coroner, including carbon monoxide levels in the blood, which can help indicate consciousness
- Expert testimony from medical doctors
Limitations on Damages in Kansas
Kansas law provides limits on the amount of recovery following a motor vehicle accident leading to bodily injury or death. The different limitations are:
50% Comparative Fault Rule.
Kansas law provides that an injured person bringing a claim against another driver cannot recover any compensation if they are 50% at fault or more.
Fault Determination by Jury or Court.
In most cases, the jury decides what percentage of fault each person in the lawsuit is responsible for. If the injured person is found to be less than 50% at fault, the court will reduce their verdict by the same percentage of fault assigned to them.
Example of Comparative Fault.
If the jury determines that the injured person bringing a claim against the at fault driver is 25% at fault the amount of the final verdict and judgment is reduced by cutting the final recovery by 25%.
Insurance Companies Claim Comparative Fault.
Insurance carriers routinely assert comparative fault as a strategy to diminish or avoid financial responsibility for an injured party's losses. An experienced car accident attorney is essential to investigate the facts, challenge these strategically manufactured allegations, and demonstrate that the insurer's assertions lack evidentiary support.
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