Wichita Lawyers for Multiple Car Accidents

These occur frequently and we have the experience to maximize your case value!

A car accident involving multiple vehicles happens fast and  can be nearly impossible to avoid. These wrecks seem to occur daily on Kellogg (US HWY 400) in Wichita.  Rush hour traffic involves packed cars in all lanes traveling at highway speeds.  It is difficult to even change lanes because of the spacing of the cars.  When one driver’s negligence causes a crash, there is little time to react.   One vehicle starts to slow due to other traffic and the driver behind them slows even faster and the next thing you know, there are four vehicles colliding with multiple rearend collisions.

That’s when you need an experienced car accident lawyer on your side.

A single wreck can quickly lead to a chain reaction multi-vehicle accident that involves anywhere from three to more than 10 vehicles. These types of crashes often happen on highways and at intersections.

For more than 68 years, PISTOTNIK LAW, has represented multi-vehicle accident victims.

The injuries and damages that result from multi-vehicle crashes are often severe. If you were recently hurt or lost a loved one in a multi-car accident, you may be feeling overwhelmed and then you start getting harassed with multiple calls, texts, and emails from insurance adjusters.

To pay for things like past and future medical bills and lost wages, however, you need to navigate your way through the complicated insurance claims process. We handle everything for you and tell those insurance adjusters to stop contacting you!

Let Brian and Brian at  PISTOTNIK LAW do the work (dealing with all those insurance adjusters) for you. While you focus on regaining your health, our law firm will investigate the details of the accident and get to the bottom of what happened.

Pistotnik Law finds evidence other law firms may miss.  Our firm is not an injury law mill, where you are just a number.  We give extra attention to every case. After three decades serving the greater Wichita area, we know how the local justice system works and how to get around insurance agent tactics.

Our office answers any and all questions you may have.  We don’t think there are any bad or stupid questions, and we take the time to fully explain your legal options.  Pistotnik Law offers free case evaluations to accident victims. It won’t cost you anything to talk to our firm about any aspect of your case, from start to finish.

Here are some general answers to multi-vehicle wreck questions.

How Is a Multiple-Vehicle Accident Different From a Two-Car Crash?

For the most part, the same laws apply to both types of accidents. It’s the added drivers, businesses, and their individual insurance adjusters and lawyers that make the processes so different.

The at-fault parties will often try to shift blame to the other drivers. Insurance agents will almost certainly be working to argue their driver is not fully responsible for the collision and argue the other drivers are at least comparatively at fault.

Founding personal injury attorneys Brian Pistotnik and Brian Collignon are take an aggressive and thorough approach to all accident cases. When we demand the maximum compensation for your claim, we’re backed by years of experience and trial-tested strategies.

The Police Are Doing An Investigation, So Why Do I Need a Lawyer to Investigate the Crash, Too?

The police are performing a minimal investigation unless there are extremely severe injuries or deaths involved.  They are extremely busy handling multiple other accidents and many other aspects of their jobs.  Many officers have minimal, if any, training in accident reconstruction. They are not focused on the outcome of your insurance claim.

Depending on where the accident happened, your wreck might be investigated by the Wichita police, the Kansas Highway Patrol, or the Sedwick County Sheriff’s department. They will deliver a report at the end of their investigation.

The police will record many details but may skip others that aren’t relevant to their investigation. They may not have time to interview all the witnesses.  They likely won’t listen to 911 recordings which potentially will disclose additional witnesses.  Pistotnik Law sorts through all evidence and finds details the police may not have considered important but that could make a huge difference to your compensation.

Who Is At-Fault in a Multi-Vehicle Accident?

This is one of the more difficult questions to answer when investigating multiple vehicle collisions. Often, there is more than one person to blame for the wreck. Each driver has a legal obligation to keep a proper lookout, a legal obligation to maintain control of the vehicle and take appropriate evasive actions, and a duty to keep a safe and appropriate distance between their vehicle and the vehicle they are following.  There may be claim fault for employers, if the driver was working at the time of the collision.  There may be fault of the vehicle owner, if the vehicle was not properly maintained.

Kansas observes a“modified comparative fault rule” with a 50 percent bar. This means that even if you are partially at fault in an accident, you may still be able to receive compensation for your injuries and lost property. Your final payout will be reduced by the percentage of fault you carry for the accident. (If you are found to be 10 percent at fault, for example, you only get 90 percent of the value of your claim).

However, if you are found to be 50 percent or more at fault in the accident, you cannot make a claim.

What If There Are Multiple People at Fault for My Injuries? Who Should I File a Claim Against?

In multi-car wrecks there may be more than one person’s negligence who contributed to your damages. In these situations, eventually a judge or jury has to determine the comparative fault of each driver.  Fault is a combination of negligent conduct but the negligence has to cause or contribute to the event  which brought about the claim for damages.  In other words, if a driver was negligent, but the negligence did not cause the damages, they would not be at fault.  There has to be a connection to the damages.  The best practice is to bring claims against each and every other driver with a potential likelihood of having some fault.  Even if one driver has only 5 or 10% fault, their insurer would cover that part of the damages in the same percentage as their fault. 

Tell the Insurance Companies You Mean Business

Getting justice when there are multiple injured and at-fault parties involved can be incredibly complicated. You can benefit greatly from having knowledgeable and local legal representation on your side.

When you hire Pistotnik Law to fight the insurance companies for you, you’re telling the insurance companies that you mean business. In Wichita and in Kansas, the insurance companies know that the attorneys at Pistotnik Law are relentless in our pursuit of the best outcomes for our clients.

When it’s time to negotiate settlement, insurance adjusters know our attorneys are prepared to fight and if they make a lowball offer, they will be headed to court. Due to our reputation, they know they need to make a fair offer is they expect to get a case resolved.

Don’t Worry About the Cost of Hiring a Lawyer

It’s a common misconception that hiring a lawyer is always expensive. This is not the case at Brian and Brian at  PISTOTNIK LAW. Wichita is our community, and we want to be accessible to everyone. That is why we offer free case consultations to accident victims. That is why you don’t need any money up front to hire us.  During a consultation, a lawyer (not a case intake specialist or case manager like you might run into at an accident injury mill law firm) will listen to the details of your accident and injuries. We can help you understand the full value of your claim and weigh your best legal options.

Our car accident lawyers represent clients on contingency. This means there is no retainer or hourly rate for you to cover. Our fee is calculated into your final settlement or verdict and paid for by the insurance companies — not you. If we don’t win, we don’t get paid.

There’s nothing to lose. Contact Pistotnik Law now and get started on maximizing your case for your injuries.  No case is too small, and some cases appear small at the beginning, but end up with substantial values.