People generally understand that a major Kentucky car crash could cause financial hardship. Crashes can leave vehicles in need of safety-critical repairs or completely unsafe to drive. Their occupants can incur injuries that put them in the hospital or leave them with lifelong functional limitations.
The risk of a collision is one of the trade-offs for the convenience of having a personal motor vehicle. People trust that the law in Kentucky protects them from sizable losses by imposing insurance requirements on drivers and allowing them to file lawsuits when someone gets hurt or someone dies because of a crash.
In theory, the law does protect those injured in crashes if another party is at fault for the wreck. However, the ability to take legal action is not an indefinite right. Does someone have to worry about losing the right to take action if they wait too long after a collision?
Kentucky does limit personal injury claims
It can take a while to realize the full impact of a recent crash. Medical treatment could last for weeks, and insurance negotiations can take even longer to resolve. People often think that they can wait until they’ve fully recovered or resolved insurance matters to take legal action.
Contrary to what people often assume, the law in Kentucky does include limitations on personal injury lawsuits. The average person hurt in a car crash needs to act in a timely manner. They have two years from the date of the crash in most cases to take legal action. Those who delay filing a personal injury lawsuit may eventually lose the right to hold another driver or a business accountable for their injuries and other financial losses.
The timeline is even shorter in cases involving family members taking legal action after someone dies in a car crash. In most cases, there is a one-year statute of limitations that applies to wrongful death lawsuits in Kentucky. People struggling with the practical aftermath of a crash sometimes delay seeking compensation and may put themselves at a legal disadvantage by doing so.
Realizing that the law limits how long people have to take action after a serious car wreck may help those involved in collisions make better use of the laws that exist for their protection.