Automobile Accidents in KS and MO
Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 35. According to the statistics released by the United States Department of Transportation, there are approximately 6 million auto accidents in the United States every year, with these accidents causing approximately 3 million injuries. Of those 3 million injuries, about 2 million are permanent injuries. There were also 40,100 deaths in 2017.
Some of the causes of these accidents include driving while intoxicated or high, distracted driving such as texting or using a cell phone, excessive speeding and reckless driving.
Experienced Car Accident Attorneys In Joplin Mo & Pittsburg KS
Your chances of being involved in an accident are increasing every year. Experienced personal injury lawyers with The Law Office of William L Phalen are waiting to help you. If you are involved in an automobile accident, you need to move quickly to protect your legal rights.
Remember, some of your injuries may not be apparent at the time of the accident or your injuries may grow worse with time. In either event, proper action and medical care must be taken to ensure your rights are fully protected. Each car accident case at The Law Office of William L. Phalen is given personal attention by dedicated attorneys and staff.
A car accident lawyer in Missouri or Kansas has an ethical and legal obligation to act in your best interest. Insurance companies, on the other hand, have attorneys representing them to act in their best interest. Without an attorney of your own, there’s simply no one representing you and looking out for your rights.
Types of Road Accidents
Traffic accidents can happen anywhere. You can be driving on a major highway, a rural side road, in a parking lot, through your neighborhood or even just around the block. Here’s a look at eight of the most common types of road accidents.
1. Rear-End Collision
It’s difficult to drive for more than a week on the roads in America and not see a rear-end collision, also known as fender benders. You might even see an accordion collision, where several cars have slammed into each other. Distracted driving or driver inattention is one of the most common reasons for rear-end collisions, along with tailgating, poor road conditions forcing drivers to slow down and panic stops when an animal or person runs out into the road.
While fender benders may seem to be the most innocent form of a car accident, they can often have long-lasting effects due to whiplash or other head injuries.
2. Single Car Accidents
Alcohol consumption is one of the main causes of single car accidents. It’s not uncommon to hear the news of a drunk driver losing control of their vehicle and slamming into a telephone pole or a guardrail. Other forms of single car accidents include hitting fallen debris, hitting an animal, rollovers and excessive speed that makes it difficult to navigate a curve.
3. Side-Impact Collisions
Also known as T-boning, side-impact collisions happen when one car hit another car broadside. These accidents frequently happen at intersections where a distracted driver will run a red light or fail to stop at a stop sign. Tennis star Venus Williams was found guilty of just such an act in 2017 that resulted in the death of a passenger in the car she broadsided. Along with intersections, T-bone collisions also happen in parking lots. Side impact collisions account for a quarter of all passenger deaths in motor vehicle accidents.
4. Rollovers
Rollovers are very violent car accidents. They involve numerous factors such as the driver, the condition of the road, the condition of the vehicle and environmental factors like rain or snow. Alcohol, speed and location — such as on an especially hilly or curvy road — play important roles in rollover crashes. About 85 percent of all rollover fatalities happened in single-vehicle crashes according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
5. Head-On Crashes
The most deadly kind of car accident. Head-on collisions occur when two vehicles moving in opposite directions hit each other head-on. Head-on collisions can result from several factors, including alcohol, driver fatigue, driver inattention and road conditions.
6. Sideswipe Collisions
These accidents occur when two cars sideswipe each other. This can happen as a result of driver inattention or road conditions. These are often the deadliest form of accidents involving motorcycles and bicycles. Inattentive drivers who change lanes without checking and hit motorcyclists and cars to try to pass cyclists will often come too close and sideswipe them.
7. Hit and Run Accidents
These accidents usually involve pedestrians who are struck by a driver while crossing the road or in a parking lot and the driver leaves the scene of the accident. These can often be a most difficult kind of accident for the injured party or their family — if the pedestrian is killed — to recover compensation.
8. Multi-Car Pileups
A multi-car pileup is what happens when an accordion crash grows out of control. Multi-car pileups often happen when driving conditions are poor, such as during a snowstorm or in a fog bank. The driver of one car will lose control, and the drivers of cars behind them, trying to avoid the original crash, will start to pile into each other.
Multi-car pileups can also happen when a large truck like a semitrailer loses control. In multi-car pileups, the danger of fire is always present.
Car Accident Injury Statistics
While we briefly mentioned some car accident statistics above, here are a few more national totals for 2016:
- Distracted Driving: 3450 people were killed as a result of distracted driving.
- Fatigue: 803 people died as a result of drivers fatigue or falling asleep at the wheel.
- Alcohol: Alcohol accounted for the largest number of traffic-related fatalities — 10,497.
- Speeding: Speeding was a close second, with 10,111 people killed because they were driving too fast.
- Seatbelts: As if we needed a reminder that you should always wear your seatbelt, 10,428 people in the United States lost their lives in 2016 because they weren’t wearing one.
In Missouri, 940 people were killed as a result of traffic accidents in 2017, and 57,744 people were injured. Of 158,000 total crashes in 2016, 872 were fatal and 40,000 resulted in personal injuries. Meanwhile, 117,000 accidents resulted in property damage.
The total crashes broke down into a variety of categories, which include:
- Animals: 4684
- Fixed Object: 3110
- Pedestrian: 1414
- Parked Motor Vehicle: 10,992
- Overturn: 3178
- Railway: 35
- Fire/Explosion: 238
- Jackknife: 128
- Fell or Jumped From Moving Vehicle: 127
Of the 64,844 total crashes in Kansas in 2016, 429 people were killed and 18,406 were injured. The number one cause of automobile crashes in Kansas was driver inattention (20 percent), then contact with an animal (13 percent) and then failure to yield the right-of-way (10 percent).
The accidents in Kansas broke down into these categories:
- One-Vehicle Accidents: 26,254
- Deer: 10,150
- Fixed Object: 9558
- Speeding: 4472
- Ice and Snow: 2506
- Work Zone: 2063
Differences Between Personal Injury Laws in Kansas and Missouri
Any time you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, it falls under the category of personal injury. Personal injury law often varies significantly from state to state. Kansas and Missouri share some aspects of personal injury but differ in others — here are three examples.
1. Kansas Is a No-Fault State
Since Kansas is a no-fault state, it does not matter who was responsible for the accident — you need to first turn to your personal injury coverage to provide compensation. This is known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. It provides compensation for the first $10,000 worth of damages from your accident.
In order to bypass the no-fault system and file a personal injury liability lawsuit against the other party, you need to exceed your $10,000 limit and have suffered a serious injury.
Kansas defines any of the following as a serious injury:
- Suffering permanent disfigurement in an accident
- Fracturing any weight-bearing bone
- Suffering a displaced, compound, compressed or comminuted fracture of a bone
- Sustaining a permanent injury
- Sustaining a permanent injury that involves the loss of a functioning part of your body
Meanwhile, Missouri does not use a no-fault system. This means you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the individual you hold responsible for your accident as soon as possible in Missouri.
2. Kansas Has Caps on Personal Injury Lawsuits
There is a statutory limit on how much an individual can be awarded damages in a personal injury lawsuit in Kansas, especially for non-economic damages like “pain and suffering.” Those caps are:
- $250,000: For any injury that happened after July 1, 1988, but before July 1, 2014
- $300,000: For any injury that happened on or after July 1, 2014, but before July 1, 2018
- $325,000: For any injury that happened on or after July 1, 2018, but before July 1, 2022
- $350,000: For any injury that happens on or after July 1, 2022
Missouri, however, does not have any caps on personal injury awards. So, there are no set financial limits to what can be awarded by a judge or jury in a personal injury lawsuit.
3. Kansas’ Statute of Limitations
In Kansas, you have two years to file a lawsuit against the person that you believe was responsible for your automobile accident. In Missouri, you have five years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Comparative Fault Rule
As you can see from above, there are some significant differences in the way personal injury lawsuits are handled in Kansas and Missouri. One thing both states share, however, is a comparative fault rule.
The comparative fault rule means if it can be shown that you were partially responsible for the automobile accident for which you filed a personal injury lawsuit, whatever damages you are awarded will be reduced by the total percentage you are deemed responsible.
Take the following example. Suppose you were driving but talking on the phone at the same time. The car in front of you slows down, and so do you, but the car behind you slams into you. During the trial, the defendant is able to prove that because you were talking on the phone, you are at least 20 percent responsible for the accident. So, if you are awarded $100,000 damages, your reward will be reduced by 20 percent ($20,000) and you will receive $80,000 in damages.
Even with the comparative fault rule, there are some important differences between the two states. Missouri uses a “pure” comparative fault rule. This means even if you’re 99 percent responsible for the accident, you would still be able to collect on 1 percent of damages. In Kansas, if you are deemed to be more than 50 percent responsible for the accident, you cannot collect anything.
Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer in Missouri & Kansas
When you have been involved in any kind of a car accident, one of the smartest things you can do is hire a personal injury lawyer to help you. Here are three ways a professional can help.
1. Provide Assistance After the Accident
People are often a bit shaken up for several days or perhaps even weeks after being involved in a car accident, depending on how severe it is. An experienced personal injury lawyer from The Law Office of William L. Phalen can help you handle the many important things that need to happen after an accident, such as collecting evidence, speaking with witnesses, following important documents on time and making sure you receive the proper medical treatment.
2. Deal With the Insurance Company
An important thing for you to remember is that insurance companies are not your friends. Insurance companies are not in the business to give money away — they will try to pay you as little as possible in order to keep their shareholders happy. It has nothing to do with fairness or how badly you may be hurt.
As a result, insurance adjusters or lawyers for insurance companies will try to convince you to accept settlements that are often far less than what you are entitled to. They will bother you constantly. The moment you hire a personal injury attorney and designate them as your representative, the insurance companies must deal with the attorney from that moment on and leave you alone.
3. Ensure You Get the Compensation You Deserve
Another thing to remember about insurance companies is that they handle claims all the time, and they know every trick in the book to avoid paying you the damages to which could be entitled. Going it alone is not a good idea — especially since this may be the first and only time you’ll have to deal with a personal injury claim in your lifetime.
An experienced personal injury lawyer from Phalen Law Firm knows how insurance companies work. They know the kind of tricks they will use to try to fool you into accepting less than what you deserve. An experienced personal injury lawyer will make sure you get the benefits to which you could be entitled.
When to Get an Attorney for a Car Accident
People who were in a car accident may wonder when it’s the best time to hire an attorney. The answer is simple — as soon as possible. It should be the first thing you do after you have sought medical treatment for your injury.
The longer you wait, the more problems you may be creating for yourself. For instance, the moment you hire an experienced personal injury attorney from Phalen Law Firm, they will begin to work on your behalf. They will collect critical evidence and speak to witnesses about the accident. They could collect medical reports and police reports. The problem is that if you wait to hire an attorney, it may make it much harder to collect the important evidence you need to prove your claim.
If you live in Kansas, which has a no-fault insurance system, it can be very difficult to navigate the system on your own. An experienced attorney can help you understand your options and whether you are eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Another important reason to hire an attorney as soon as possible is that insurance companies are notorious for trying to strike as quickly as possible in order to get cheap settlements. Some insurance companies have even been known to send adjusters to the scene of an accident in order to get a shaken motorist to sign a bad deal. Another trick insurance companies use is asking you to make a recorded statement about the accident. You are under no obligation to do this, and you should never make a recorded statement about the incident.
When you hire a lawyer to help you, they will deal with the insurance company and all the tricks they may play.
Call Phalen Law Firm for Assistance With Your Personal Injury Claim
Accidents are complicated matters, and the cost of being in a car accident is quite high. You may lose property in the crash, and you may face weeks or months of recovery time. The cost of being out of work, having to pay for medical bills and even just paying for taxis to get around while your car is in the shop quickly become much higher than what an insurance company is willing to pay. This can leave you worried about your financial situation.
An auto accident lawyer at the Pittsburg, KS, Coffeyville, KS, Kansas City, KS and Joplin, MO offices of Phalen Law Firm has handled many auto accident cases. They understand the long-term costs and the possible challenges you may face with your claim. They can use this knowledge to negotiate for the best compensation for your medical costs and more. We can help you in English and Spanish.
If you would like a free consultation, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-235-1807 or 620-235-1806. Or, contact us online, and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.