Car Accident Claims in Kansas

If no police officer is at the scene, the driver (or any occupant 18 or older) must immediately report the crash to the nearest police authority by the quickest available means when there is apparent property damage of $1,000 or more, when anyone is injured or killed, or when the people entitled to the driver's information are not present or able to receive it.

Kansas does not set a routine driver-filed crash report by statute; the state division may require a driver or owner to file a written accident report whenever it considers this necessary to meet another legal requirement. The investigating officer's written report goes to the Kansas Department of Transportation within 10 days after the investigation for crashes with injury, death, or apparent total property damage of $1,000 or more.

A driver in a crash causing injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or property must stop at or near the scene and stay until giving name, address and vehicle registration number, and on request showing a driver license and the liability insurer's name and policy number, including to police. The driver must try right away to find out whether anyone was hurt and give reasonable help, including arranging transport for medical care. Penalties for leaving the scene: total damage under $1,000 is a misdemeanor; injury or damage of $1,000 or more is a class A person misdemeanor; great bodily harm is a severity level 8 person felony; a death is a severity level 6 person felony (level 4 if the driver knew or should have known of injury or death; level 3 for more than one death). The license may be revoked.

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.

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.

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.

A lawsuit for taking, detaining or injuring personal property, or for trespass on real property, must be filed within two years, subject to the same accrual rule and 10-year outer limit.