Fatal car crashes in Kansas City, KS: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 109 fatal crashes inside Kansas City, in which 114 people died. The roads with the most were I-70 with 16 fatal crashes, I-635 with 8 and Parallel Pkwy with 7.

Filing deadline, fault rule, insurance and the court for a crash in Kansas City: Kansas City, KS injury guide.

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, compiles a record for every fatal crash on a public road nationwide, coded by place, time, light, road and the people involved. For Kansas City, Kansas, the files for 2020 through 2024 list 109 fatal crashes in which 114 people died. Kansas City, Missouri, is a separate city across the state line, and its crashes are not counted here. The 2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File, the first release for that year, and may be revised; 2020 through 2023 are Final File figures.

The yearly counts ranged from 18 to 25: 22 fatal crashes in 2020, 24 in 2021, 20 in 2022, 25 in 2023 and 18 in 2024, with 23, 24, 22, 26 and 19 deaths. The 2024 total is the lowest of the five years, but it is a first-release figure, and one lower year is not a trend. Deaths exceeded crashes by five over the period, so nearly every fatal crash killed one person.

Kansas City's 114 deaths are the second-highest total among the Kansas places in our guides, behind Wichita with 232 and ahead of Topeka (56), Overland Park (35) and Olathe (20). Wyandotte County recorded 117 fatal crashes and 123 deaths, so all but 8 of the county's fatal crashes, 93 percent, were in Kansas City. Statewide, Kansas recorded 1,793 fatal crashes and 1,985 deaths over the five years, and about 6 percent of those deaths were in this one city.

I-70 had more fatal crashes than any other road in Kansas City, Kansas: 16, with 16 deaths and the latest in 2024. I-635 followed with 8 crashes and 9 deaths, also with one in 2024. Parallel Pkwy had 7 fatal crashes, the latest in 2024, and I-35 had 5, the latest in 2023. I-435 had 5 as well, the latest in 2022, and State Ave had 4, also last in 2022.

Four of the six roads at the top of the list are interstates, and route signing shows the same thing: 37 of the 109 crashes, 34 percent, were on roads signed as interstates, 29 on local streets in a municipality, 9 on U.S. highways and 5 on state highways. Further down, N 38th St had 3 crashes that killed 4 people, Central Ave and Kaw Dr (State Route 32) had 3 each, and Southwest Blvd had 2 crashes that killed 3. Crash counts show where deaths occurred, not risk per mile, since FARS does not measure traffic.

Most of the city's fatal crashes were not at an intersection. Sixty-four of the 109 were coded as non-junction, meaning not at a junction, and only 29 were at an intersection (15) or intersection-related (14). The rest were coded to other locations: 5 on a through roadway, 4 at another location within an interchange area, 4 related to an entrance or exit ramp, 2 on an entrance or exit ramp and 1 in an acceleration or deceleration lane. In 72 crashes the first harmful event, the first event that caused injury or damage, was not a collision with another vehicle in traffic; of the 37 that were, 17 were angle collisions, 9 rear-end, 8 head-on and 3 same-direction sideswipes.

The evening was the most common time: 41 crashes happened between 6 p.m. and midnight, 28 between midnight and 6 a.m., 28 between noon and 6 p.m. and 11 between 6 a.m. and noon, and one had no recorded hour. Daylight was the single most common light condition, with 48 crashes, but more happened in the dark overall: 57, of which 45 were on lighted roads and 12 on unlit roads. Sunday had the most fatal crashes, 25, followed by Friday with 20, while Tuesday had 7.

Weather says little here, because it was not reported for 83 of the 109 crashes; of the rest, 14 were in clear weather, 6 in rain, 4 under clouds and 2 in severe crosswinds. Fixed objects appear often among the first harmful events: a curb in 10 crashes, a concrete traffic barrier or a ditch in 4 each, and a guardrail, bridge rail, utility pole or other post or support in 3 each, while 7 began with a rollover.

Drivers make up most of the toll. Of the 114 people killed, 68 were drivers and 16 were passengers of vehicles in traffic, 84 in all. Thirty were outside a vehicle: 28 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist and 1 person on a personal conveyance, a device such as a wheelchair or skateboard. Fifteen of those killed were on a motorcycle or moped, 13 percent of all deaths, and FARS counts them among the drivers and passengers.

Thirty of the 109 crashes, 28 percent, involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other person outside a vehicle, and a vehicle striking a pedestrian was the first harmful event in 23. Sixty-four crashes involved a single vehicle, 35 involved two and 10 involved three or more. For an injured driver or passenger, the crash type shapes the claim: a single-vehicle crash raises the question of whether another vehicle, a road hazard or a vehicle defect played a part, while a multi-vehicle crash usually turns on lane position, following distance and speed.

Suppose that in 2025 you were driving on I-70 in Kansas City, Kansas, on a Sunday evening when a driver moving into your lane sideswiped your car and pushed it into a concrete barrier. You broke your arm and injured your back, ran up $30,000 in medical bills and missed six weeks of work. All facts and figures here are hypothetical and simplified to show how the Kansas rules work.

Kansas is a no-fault state, so your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays first, whoever caused the crash. To claim pain and suffering from the other driver, Kansas requires $2,000 in treatment or a specified serious injury, and $30,000 in medical bills would clear the treatment figure. Suppose your losses, pain and suffering included, are valued at $90,000. The other driver carries Kansas's minimum liability coverage, 25/50/25, which means $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per crash for injuries and $25,000 for property damage.

The other driver's insurer argues you were drifting too and assigns you 30 percent of the fault. Kansas reduces the award by your share, so 30 percent brings the $90,000 down to $63,000; and because the 50 percent bar allows recovery only if you were less than 50 percent at fault, at exactly 50 percent you would recover nothing. Even at $63,000, the other driver's $25,000 per-person limit caps what that insurer pays, and the balance would depend on your own underinsured motorist coverage, if you have it, or on the driver personally. A lawsuit would generally have to be filed within two years (K.S.A. 60-513).

Kansas sets a reporting duty for crashes where no officer is present. Under K.S.A. 8-1604(b), the driver, or an occupant 18 or older, must report the crash immediately, by the quickest available means, to the nearest office of a duly authorized police authority when property damage appears to be $1,000 or more, anyone is injured or killed, or the people entitled to the driver's information are not there or able to receive it. Police then send their crash reports to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

As a rule there is no driver's form to file: officers send their reports to the Kansas Department of Transportation, though the Division of Vehicles may ask a driver or owner for a written report. For a copy of a report, ask the police agency that responded; the Kansas Highway Patrol's records office handles reports for crashes the Highway Patrol investigated.

• Call 911 if anyone is hurt; it is one quick way to reach the police.
• On an interstate, note the nearest exit or mile marker so the location can be pinned down later.
• Open a PIP claim with your own insurer and keep every bill; the $2,000 treatment figure can decide whether a pain-and-suffering claim is allowed.
• If the crash happened while you were working, tell your employer within 30 days from the accident, or 20 days after your last day of work, whichever comes first.

A lawsuit over a crash in Kansas City, Kansas, would generally be filed in the Wyandotte County District Court, the county's trial court, although some claims belong in another court, a decision for an attorney. Kansas generally allows two years to file an injury lawsuit (K.S.A. 60-513). A wrongful death claim also has two years (K.S.A. 60-513(a)(5)), with a ten-year outer limit.

Two other rules can change the timing. A claim against a city or county requires written notice plus a 120-day wait before suit (K.S.A. § 12-105b(d)). For an injured child, the clock pauses, but suit must be filed within one year of the child turning 18, not the usual full period, and never more than eight years after the act (K.S.A. 60-515(a)). An attorney should confirm which of these applies to the facts.

Kansas's rules shape a claim at three points. It is a no-fault state, so PIP pays first, and a claim for pain and suffering opens only once treatment reaches $2,000 or the injury is one of the specified serious injuries. It requires liability coverage of 25/50/25. And its fault rule is modified comparative negligence with a 50 percent bar: you recover only if you were less than 50 percent at fault, reduced by your share, so an even split ends the claim against the other driver.

Other states answer the same questions differently. Alabama and Virginia use contributory negligence, which can bar an injured person found even slightly at fault, and Tennessee allows only one year for most injury claims, half of Kansas's two years under K.S.A. 60-513. If the crash happened on the job, Kansas workers' compensation, administered by the Kansas Division of Workers Compensation, may apply as well, with the formal claim filed within three years.

Because the threshold, the fault split and the other driver's limits all interact, an attorney has to look at the specific facts. Ask Legal Matters is a personal injury lead-generation service that collects free case review requests from injured people in the United States and shares them with independent attorneys and law firms. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Kansas, and most personal injury attorneys work on contingency. If you were hurt in a crash in Kansas City, Kansas, you can request a free case review.

• What do federal records show about fatal car crashes in Wichita?
• Which U.S. cities had the most fatal car accidents in 2023?
• What should you do after a car accident?
• How do you file a car accident insurance claim?

More on this type of claim: Car accidents: evidence, deadlines and when to ask an attorney.

• Kansas City, Kansas: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Wrongful Death Claims: Who Can File, Deadlines and Damages

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