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After a car crash in Kansas, one of the most important pieces of evidence in your claim is your Kansas Motor Vehicle Accident Report. Although the report itself is unlikely to be used as evidence in court, it nevertheless plays a critical role: the insurance company will use it to determine fault for the accident, and the investigating officer, if called to testify in a deposition or at trial, will likely refer to the report as a basis for their testimony.
You need to know how to read your accident report – and set the record straight if anything in it is incorrect.
Kansas Motor Vehicle Accident Report (KDOT Form 850A)
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/ks_par_850a_rev9_2009_sub10_2011.pdf
Page 1
The top of the page gives an overview of the accident, including the date, time, location, and a brief narrative. Take note of the difference between the time of the accident and the time the police officer arrived, which may be some time later.
Click here to download a printable PDF of How to Read Your Kansas Car Accident Report.
If any non-vehicle property was damaged, it’s mentioned on this page.
The investigating officer checks off the general type of accident and the road conditions surrounding the crash, including weather, light, surface conditions, and any special features on the road. This can form the basis for a claim if someone was driving too fast for the conditions.
Page 2
The investigating officer checks off characteristics of the roadway on this page, including the number of lanes, character of the road, and jurisdiction.
The pictorial diagram must include each vehicle’s position, movement, and direction of travel. The labels used in the diagram should match references to the same units elsewhere in the report.
In the diagram, the officer should record physical evidence such as skid marks – which can be key to reconstructing what happened.
Page 3
If any citations were given for the accident, they will be listed here. Note that citations may establish fault for the accident, but they are not the final word. The same is true of the officer’s opinion of contributing circumstances.
The drivers of the involved vehicles are listed on this page. The TU number listed for each driver corresponds to the vehicle they were driving.
Each driver’s license information is listed on this page. Take note of the “Driving for Employer?” check box; if the at-fault driver was driving for work, the employer may be liable for the accident.
Any drug or alcohol tests that were administered to the drivers are listed here. This can be key to establishing fault.
Passengers are listed on this page, along with injury information. Remember that not all injuries may have been apparent at the time the report was written.
Page 4
This page describes the vehicles themselves, including the owner’s contact information and the type of vehicle.
Vehicle damage locations are listed here. In addition to establishing a claim for property damage, this can be cross-referenced with seating position information on the previous pages to establish that someone was injured by force of impact.
Carefully review the “vehicle sequence of events” section at the bottom of the page, which describes the role each vehicle played in the crash.
Page 5
The investigating officer’s written narrative contains their overall understanding of how and why the accident occurred.
Read through this carefully, as it may contain information not found anywhere else in the report.
