Have you ever thought about what might happen if you are injured or killed while you are riding in a vehicle as a passenger? Many of us think of being injured or suffering vehicle damage from an automobile accident as something that happens when we are driving our own vehicles. However, we are not always the one in the driver’s seat. Usually, being a passenger creates no more risk to you than driving your own car, if the person who is driving the vehicle in which you are riding is an experienced driver who follows the rules of the road.
Unfortunately, drivers do not always follow the rules of the road and as such, may cause harm to other drivers. Because of the variety of positions in which a passenger in a vehicle can be seated, they may suffer injuries that are different than those sustained by the driver of a vehicle. Also, any person in a vehicle can be ejected from the vehicle in an accident if they are not wearing their seat belt. The type and severity of injuries inflicted upon people who are involved in a car accident also depends upon where the vehicle came into contact with whatever it collided with, whether it was another vehicle, a tree, or something else.
On the morning of February 15, 2014, a Kansas man was killed when the driver of the car in which he was riding went the wrong way on an exit ramp and crashed into a tractor trailer which had just gotten off of the highway. The driver of the car was injured, and the driver of the tractor trailer was not harmed. The accident occurred at the intersection of Interstate 70 and U.S. 40.
Since Kansas is a state that requires drivers to purchase no-fault automobile insurance, the medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages of individuals who are injured in an accident will be covered by the driver’s insurance policy. In exchange for this coverage, the injured parties are excluded from pursuing a lawsuit against the driver for pain, suffering, or damages unless the type or amount of damages that they have incurred exceeds a specific threshold which is established by law.
The threshold which separates cases in which injured parties may sue from cases in which they may not may be either verbal, describing a type of loss, or monetary, describing an amount of loss, depending upon the state. Kansas uses a system in which both a death or serious injury must occur and the damages must exceed the policyholder’s coverage before a suit may be filed. In the accident described above, it is possible that the family of the passenger who was killed might file a lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle for their losses, if those losses exceed the coverage of the driver’s insurance policy.
No-fault insurance is supposed to make the settlement of insurance claims after an accident quicker and easier for everyone. However, there are some situations in which an accident victim or their family may need to file a lawsuit in order to recover fully for their losses. If you have been seriously injured in an automobile accident and your damages exceed the limits of the driver’s insurance policy, it is important that you seek assistance from a skilled Kansas personal injury attorney. To learn more about how a Kansas Personal Injury Attorney can help you to obtain the settlement that you deserve, please call the Wichita office of Cummings & Cummings, L.L.C. today at (316) 264-1548.