If you have suffered a personal injury, it can have devastating consequences – physically, emotionally and financially. Your hope is to get your life back to normal. However, depending on the severity of the injury, you may never regain the life you led before it occurred. With so much at stake, understanding Kansas laws regarding personal injury may help to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. With that in mind, here are a few of the important aspects of Kansas personal injury law.
Negligence
Negligence is a legal term. Under Kansas law, “negligence is the lack of ordinary care. It is the failure to do something that an ordinary person would do, or the act of a person doing something that an ordinary person would not do, measured by all the circumstances then existing.” For example, if you’re driving behind a truck that has a couch in the bed but the driver didn’t strap it down so it falls out onto the road and you hit it, the driver of the truck was “negligent” because the driver did not exercise proper care to ensure the safety of those around him.
Fault
To have a lawsuit, it takes more than negligence on someone’s part. There must also be injury or damage, and that injury or damage must have been “caused by the negligence.” This is commonly referred to as “fault”. If you can prove fault, you have a valid lawsuit and can proceed with seeking recovery for your losses against the negligent person.
Types of Damages
So, what can you recover? There are two types of damages. These are referred to as “economic” and “non-economic.”
- Economic Damages: The purpose of economic damages is to compensate you for the actual expenses caused by the personal injury you suffered. These could include medical bills, medication co-pays, physical therapy, or the cost of assistance equipment such as braces or canes.
- Noneconomic Damages: This category of damages is intended to compensate you for the non-monetary losses you suffered as the result of a personal injury. These could include pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, emotional distress, or mental anguish.
