A car accident is disorienting and stressful. But what you do in the moments and days afterward can significantly affect your health, your safety, and any claim you may have. Here's a practical, Kansas-specific guide.
1. Check for Injuries and Call 911
Your health comes first. Check yourself and others for injuries and call 911. In Kansas, you must report any crash involving injury, death, or significant property damage. A police report creates an official record that's valuable later.
2. Move to Safety
If the vehicles are drivable and it's safe, move them out of traffic. Kansas winters and high-speed highways make secondary crashes a real danger. Turn on hazard lights.
3. Document the Scene
- Photograph all vehicles, damage, and their positions
- Capture road conditions, traffic signs, and skid marks
- Photograph your visible injuries
- Note the time, weather, and location
4. Exchange Information
Get the other driver's name, contact information, driver's license number, license plate, and insurance details. Collect names and numbers for any witnesses, too.
5. Seek Medical Care — Even If You Feel Fine
Adrenaline can mask serious injuries. Whiplash, concussions, and internal injuries may not show symptoms for hours or days. Prompt medical care protects your health and documents the link between the crash and your injuries.
Gaps in treatment are one of the first things insurers use to dispute a claim. See a doctor promptly and follow through with care.
6. Be Careful What You Say
Don't admit fault at the scene, and be cautious with the other driver's insurer. You are not required to give them a recorded statement, and doing so before speaking with a lawyer can hurt your claim under Kansas's comparative-fault rule.
7. Notify Your Own Insurer
Report the crash to your own insurance company, since your PIP coverage will handle initial medical bills and wage loss regardless of fault.
8. Talk to a Kansas Injury Attorney
Before accepting any settlement, get a free case review. Injury Claim Team connects injured Kansans with experienced attorneys who can evaluate your claim's true value. Call 973-566-5599 any time.
Mistakes to Avoid After a Kansas Crash
Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing the right steps. Avoid these common mistakes that can quietly undermine a claim:
- Admitting fault or apologizing at the scene, which can be taken as an admission
- Skipping medical care or leaving gaps between appointments
- Giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer before getting advice
- Accepting the first settlement offer before knowing the full extent of your injuries
- Posting about the accident or your activities on social media
- Throwing away damaged property or repairing your vehicle before it's documented
What If You Were Injured as a Passenger?
Passengers injured in a Kansas crash have their own rights and are almost never assigned fault. Depending on the circumstances, a passenger may have a claim against the driver of the car they were in, the driver of another vehicle, or both. Your own PIP coverage may also apply. Because passenger claims can involve more than one insurer, sorting out which policies apply is best handled by an attorney.
Keep a Recovery Journal
In the days and weeks after a crash, keep a simple journal documenting your pain levels, the treatments you receive, the workdays you miss, and the everyday activities you can no longer do. This kind of contemporaneous record is powerful evidence of how the injury has affected your life — far more convincing than trying to reconstruct those details from memory months later when your claim is being negotiated.
Free case review: Injury Claim Team connects injured Kansans with experienced personal injury attorneys. Call 973-566-5599 — no fee unless we win.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed Kansas attorney.