Bicycle Accident Claims in Kansas

A person riding a bicycle on a roadway has all the rights and duties of a vehicle driver, except as the bicycle sections provide otherwise and except provisions that by their nature cannot apply. A driver overtaking a bicycle going the same direction must pass to the left at a distance of not less than three feet and not move back right until safely clear, and may pass a bicycle in a no-passing zone only when it is safe to do so.

Modified comparative negligence (50% bar). An injured party can recover only if his or her negligence was less than the negligence of the party or parties being sued; damages are reduced in proportion to his or her negligence. In a wrongful death case, the deceased person's negligence is imputed to the person claiming damages.

Kansas is a no-fault state. Policies must provide liability coverage of at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage (25/50/25), plus personal injury protection, including at least $4,500 in medical benefits. An injured person can sue an at-fault driver for pain, suffering and other non-economic loss only if medical treatment is worth $2,000 or more, or the injury involves permanent disfigurement, certain fractures, loss of a body member, permanent injury, permanent loss of a bodily function, or death.

A lawsuit for injury to the rights of another not arising from a contract (which includes personal injury) must be filed within two years. The time generally starts when the act first causes substantial injury, or when the injury becomes reasonably ascertainable if that is later, but no lawsuit may be filed more than 10 years after the act that caused it.