Kansas is a wide-open state that suffers hundreds of traffic fatalities every year. An unusually high percentage of these fatalities are alcohol-related, leaving fewer serious accidents that are primarily the result of distracted driving. Nevertheless, Kansas prohibits some uses of electronic devices by drivers. The potential consequences of distracted driving increase drastically in the event of a serious road accident.
General Distracted Driving Restrictions in Kansas
Drivers on Kansas road are banned from sending, reading or composing text messages while driving. You can be cited for texting while stopped at a traffic light, although not on the shoulder of the road. There is no general prohibition against the use of cell phones, and on-duty law enforcement and emergency personnel are exempted from the texting restrictions as long as their activities are performed in the line of duty. Ordinary drivers are exempted for the purposes of preventing injury or property damage, or for reporting ongoing illegal activity.
Texting and driving is a secondary offense – the police officer must witness a violation of another law before he can pull you over for texting and driving. The fine is $60 plus administrative fees.
Restricted Licenses for Kansas’ Novice Drivers
Kansas offers three different types of driving permits – learner’s, intermediate and unrestricted. Drivers on learner’s or intermediate licenses may not use any kind of cell phone while driving, even a hands-free version such as Bluetooth. Although you can get an unrestricted driver’s license at 18, chronological age is irrelevant – you can be cited for this activity even if you are 25 but are driving on an intermediate license. The fine for this violation is also $60 plus administrative fees. This restriction is not secondary, as the texting restriction is – the officer can pull you over specifically for this offense.
In the Event of an Accident Caused by Distracted Driving
If you cause an accident through distracted driving, Kansas’ negligence law will kick in. In Kansas, the plaintiff in a lawsuit (typically an injured victim) can try to prove that you were texting and driving, even if you were not cited for this offense at the time of the accident. He cannot prove you were negligent, however, simply by showing that you violated the distracted driving law – he will still have to prove that your activity (texting and driving, for example) was negligent under the particular circumstances of the accident.
If the plaintiff can prove that you were negligent, the plaintiff’s next obstacle will be to prove that your negligence actually caused the accident. Even then, you can still win the lawsuit by proving that he was at least 50 percent at fault for the accident. If, instead, you prove that he was less than 50 percent at fault – 25 percent at fault, for example – the damages you will have to pay will be reduced by that exact proportion, 25 percent. Likewise, the other driver can enjoy the same legal protections if you are the one who sues him for the accident and he proves that the accident was partly your fault.
– Updated through September 1, 2016