Motorcycle Accident Claims in Kansas

Kansas requires a helmet meeting federal (NHTSA) guidelines only for people under 18 operating or riding a motorcycle or motorized bicycle, and no one may allow a minor to ride without one. Every motorcycle operator must wear shatterproof eye protection (glasses, goggles or a face shield) unless the motorcycle has a windscreen at least 10 inches high, and passengers under 18 must wear eye protection. The rules do not apply in an enclosed cab, an autocycle, a golf cart or a three-wheeled cargo 'truckster.' The statute does not say whether going without a helmet affects damages.

Lane splitting is illegal in Kansas: no person may operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles, and a motorcyclist may not pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being passed. Motorcycles are entitled to full use of a lane and may not ride more than two abreast in a single lane; police officers performing official duties are exempt from the passing and between-lanes rules.

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.