If you’ve been injured in a truck accident in Kansas City, the attorneys at Bretz Injury Law will fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Truck accidents in Kansas cause serious, often life-altering injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and internal organ damage. If your accident was caused by a negligent truck driver or a trucking company that ignored federal safety regulations, you may be entitled to recover compensation. This can include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. Our attorneys have 28 years of experience handling truck accident cases and are ready to help.
Call us 24/7 at (913) 361-5510 or contact our team online to schedule your free consultation.
Through Personal Loss And Experience, We’ve Learned What Matters Most. Helping Families Find Their Way Forward
Bretz Injury Law represents truck accident victims and their families throughout the Kansas City area. Kansas ranks in the bottom three states in the country for truck crashes caused by equipment failure and unsecured cargo. Much of that commercial truck traffic flows directly through Kansas City along I-35 and the Downtown Loop, some of the busiest freight corridors in the Midwest. The volume of tractor-trailers sharing the road with passenger vehicles creates constant risk for serious collisions.
In fatal truck accidents nationally, over 82% of the victims who sustain serious injuries or die are occupants of the smaller vehicle, not the truck. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a truck crash, our legal team is prepared to pursue every dollar of compensation you are owed.
Truck accident victims who hire an experienced attorney consistently recover higher compensation than those who try to handle claims on their own. Insurance companies employ adjusters trained to minimize payouts, and without a law firm on your side, they often succeed in denying valid claims. Kansas auto insurers denied roughly 12% of bodily injury claims in 2024, with disputed fault cited as the primary reason in more than half of those denials.
| Without an Attorney | With Bretz Injury Law | |
|---|---|---|
| Dealing with insurers | You handle aggressive adjusters alone | Our legal team manages all insurer communication |
| Recorded statements | Used against you to reduce or deny your claim | We ensure you never give a statement without counsel |
| Identifying liable parties | You may miss liable parties with additional coverage | We investigate the driver, trucking company, and all third parties |
| Valuing your claim | You risk accepting a lowball settlement | We calculate the full value of your injuries and future losses |
| Evidence preservation | Black box data and driver logs may be destroyed | We act immediately to preserve all electronic and physical evidence |
| Legal deadlines | You risk missing Kansas’s two-year filing deadline | We track every deadline and handle all filings on your behalf |
Bretz Injury Law handles all types of serious truck and commercial vehicle accident cases across the Kansas City area. Semi-truck and tractor-trailer crashes alone account for 74% of fatal large truck collisions nationwide. Our attorneys have experience pursuing claims involving:
Semi-Truck and Tractor-Trailer Collisions:
These high-speed crashes on highways like I-35 and I-70 often result in catastrophic injuries or wrongful death.
Jackknife and Rollover Accidents:
Improperly loaded cargo or excessive speed can cause a trailer to swing out or tip, endangering multiple lanes of traffic.
Underride Collisions:
When a smaller vehicle slides beneath a truck’s trailer, the injuries are often fatal or permanently disabling.
Cargo Truck and Delivery Vehicle Crashes:
Commercial vehicles of all sizes cause severe injuries throughout Kansas City’s industrial corridors and residential streets.
Kansas follows a modified comparative fault rule under K.S.A. § 60-258a, and this law can determine whether you recover anything at all. If you are found 50% or more at fault for the accident, you are completely barred from receiving compensation. When your fault is below 50%, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, so a $200,000 award with 20% fault assigned to you would be reduced to $160,000.
Kansas also operates as a no-fault insurance state, which means your own personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage pays for initial medical expenses regardless of who caused the accident. However, PIP has limits and does not cover non-economic losses like pain and suffering. Filing a claim against the at-fault party’s insurance companies is often necessary to recover full compensation. You have a two-year statute of limitations to file a personal injury lawsuit in Kansas, and missing that deadline permanently eliminates your right to seek financial compensation.
Multiple parties beyond the truck driver can share liability for a truck crash in Kansas City. Truck accident cases often involve the driver, the trucking company, and one or more third parties at the same time. Identifying every liable party increases the total insurance coverage available to you as the victim.
Trucking companies are often liable when their own policies, oversight failures, or cost-cutting measures contribute to a crash. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, requires trucking companies to maintain detailed vehicle inspection records, driver training logs, and maintenance records for every truck in their fleet. When a company pressures its drivers to exceed hours-of-service limits or fails to pull an unsafe truck off the road, that company shares fault for the resulting accident. This principle, called vicarious liability, holds the employer responsible for a driver’s negligence.
Manufacturers and repair shops can be held liable when defective truck components or faulty maintenance work cause an accident. Tire blowouts and brake failures rank among the most common mechanical causes of truck crashes, and nearly one-third of all truck-related collisions are attributed to tire defects alone. Shippers and cargo loaders also share liability when overloaded or improperly secured freight causes a truck to roll over or makes it impossible for the driver to maintain control.
Government agencies may be liable when dangerous road conditions play a role in causing a truck accident. Poorly maintained highways, missing or obscured signage, and hazardous construction zones all create risks that lead to preventable collisions. Large commercial vehicles are especially vulnerable because they require more stopping distance and wider turning clearances. Filing a claim against a government entity in Kansas requires following strict notice deadlines and special procedural rules that differ from standard personal injury claims.
Driver fatigue, distracted driving, and mechanical failures are responsible for the majority of truck accidents in Kansas City. According to the FMCSA, approximately 32% of truck accidents involve speeding of some kind, making it the single most common driver-related factor in fatal crashes involving large commercial vehicles. Fatigued driving is equally dangerous, as drivers who exceed federal hours-of-service limits experience slower reaction times and impaired judgment that put everyone on the road at risk.
Distracted driving from cell phones, GPS devices, or eating behind the wheel continues to grow as a leading cause of serious truck collisions. Aggressive driving behaviors like tailgating and unsafe lane changes factor into about 5% of truck wrecks nationally. In Kansas City, the mix of heavy freight traffic on I-35 with daily commuter congestion makes these behaviors even more dangerous.
Kansas ranks among the worst states in the country for truck crash safety, and the data paints a concerning picture for anyone who shares the road with commercial vehicles. A 2025 analysis of federal data ranked Kansas 49th out of 51 states and territories for truck crashes caused by equipment failure or unsecured cargo. The NHTSA also placed Kansas on its “deadliest dozen” list of states for fatal truck crashes. That designation is driven by the state’s high volume of freight traffic and long stretches of rural highway where crashes are more likely to turn fatal before emergency services arrive.
I-35 runs directly through Kansas City as one of the highest-traffic freight corridors in the Midwest, carrying thousands of commercial trucks through the metro area every day. For Kansas City residents, the risk of a serious truck collision is a daily reality on the roads you drive to work, to school, and to see your family.
Kansas law allows truck accident victims to recover several categories of damages depending on the severity of their injuries and the circumstances of the crash. After a 2019 court ruling declared previous limits unconstitutional, Kansas no longer places caps on economic or non-economic damages in personal injury cases. Your total compensation will depend on injury severity, the percentage of fault assigned to each party, and the available insurance coverage.
Economic damages cover your measurable financial losses from a personal injury claim, meaning every cost that comes with a specific dollar amount attached to it. Medical bills from hospital stays, surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing treatment are all recoverable. Lost wages are calculated based on the income you missed while recovering. If your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous occupation, your attorney can pursue compensation for reduced future earning capacity.
Non-economic damages compensate you for the losses that do not carry a fixed price tag but affect your quality of life in profound ways. Pain and suffering awards reflect both the physical discomfort and the emotional toll your injuries have caused. We understand how overwhelming it can be when a truck accident takes away your ability to enjoy the daily activities and relationships that once defined your life. Loss of consortium claims are also available to spouses affected by the victim’s injuries.
Punitive damages are separate from compensatory awards and exist to punish defendants who acted with extreme recklessness or willful disregard for public safety. Kansas courts may impose these damages when the at-fault party’s behavior goes well beyond ordinary negligence, such as a truck driver operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. While less common, punitive damage awards can substantially increase the total value of your case.
Families who lose a loved one in a truck accident have the right to file a wrongful death claim against the responsible parties. Surviving family members can recover compensation for funeral expenses, the loss of the deceased person’s financial support, and the loss of companionship and guidance. We know that no amount of money can undo the grief of losing someone to a preventable truck crash. We approach every wrongful death case with the care your family deserves. Kansas applies the same two-year statute of limitations to wrongful death lawsuits.
Taking the right steps immediately after a truck accident protects both your health and your ability to file a successful injury claim. Your first priority should always be seeking medical attention, even if your injuries seem minor at the time. Conditions like internal bleeding and traumatic brain injuries may not show obvious symptoms for hours or days after the collision.
Once you are stable, request the police report number and begin collecting evidence at the scene if you are physically able to do so. Photograph the vehicles involved, any visible debris, road conditions, and your own injuries, and gather contact information from any witnesses who saw what happened.
Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster without first speaking to an attorney. Under Kansas evidence law, anything you say can be used against you at trial, and adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to get you to accept partial fault. Contact Bretz Injury Law before engaging with any insurer so we can handle those conversations on your behalf.
With 28 years of experience and over $300 million recovered for our clients, Bretz Injury Law has the resources and proven track record to take on trucking companies and their insurers. We have won 98% of the cases we’ve pursued since 1991, and insurance adjusters know our firm is prepared to go to trial when they refuse to offer fair compensation. Every client receives Matt Bretz’s personal cell phone number because we believe you deserve direct access to your truck accident lawyer. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call us today at (913) 361-5510 or contact our team online to schedule your free consultation.
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