Motorcycle Accident Claims in Kentucky

Kentucky requires a protective helmet only for riders under 21 (operators and passengers, including sidecar riders), riders operating on a motorcycle instruction permit, and riders who have held a motorcycle license for less than one year. Other adult riders are not required to wear a helmet, but every operator must use approved eye protection. KRS 189.285 does not say that not wearing a helmet reduces damages in a lawsuit.

No Kentucky statute reviewed names lane splitting. The overtaking statute requires passing on the left, allows passing on the right only when the vehicle ahead is turning left or there is room for two or more lines of traffic in the same direction, and only when it can be done safely and not by driving off the roadway. On roads with three or more marked lanes in one direction, a driver must keep as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and may not leave it until the move can be made safely.

Kentucky uses comparative fault. In tort cases involving fault of more than one party, the jury (or judge) finds the total damages and the percentage of fault of each party, including the injured person, and the award is set according to those percentages. The statute does not bar recovery when the injured person is partly at fault, which is generally described as pure comparative fault.

Kentucky is a no-fault (choice) state. Required liability coverage is at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage (or a $60,000 single limit), plus basic reparation (personal injury protection) benefits of up to $10,000 per person. Drivers who accept the no-fault system may sue for pain and suffering only if medical expenses exceed $1,000 or the injury involves permanent disfigurement, a fracture, loss of a body member, permanent injury or loss of bodily function, or death. A person may reject the tort limitation in writing on a Department of Insurance form before an accident.

In general, a lawsuit for an injury to the person must be filed within one year after the cause of action accrued. For injuries from a motor vehicle accident covered by Kentucky's Motor Vehicle Reparations Act, a tort lawsuit may be filed within two years after the injury, the death, or the date of the last no-fault (basic or added reparation) benefit payment, whichever is later.