Kansas City, MO personal injury attorney Michael Waddell talks about what you can recover if you’re partially at fault in a car accident. The practice operates primarily in two states: Kansas and Missouri. In Missouri, the legal standard is known as pure comparative fault, which allows individuals to be up to 99% at fault for an automobile accident and still recover damages. In these cases, any fault attributed to the individual results in a reduction of their compensation.

In Kansas, the standard is modified comparative fault. Here, the court or jury evaluates the comparative fault of all parties involved in the accident. If the plaintiff is found to be at least 50% at fault for causing the accident, they are barred from recovery. Therefore, Kansas uniquely considers a party’s contributory or comparative fault to assess the risk of being unable to recover damages entirely.