Kansas Legislature Passes Crash Tax Ban

The Kansas Legislature has passed legislation that prevents local governments from charging fees for routine accident response services, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

House Bill 2119 places restrictions on local governments levying a “crash tax”, a fee charged for emergency response services at the scene of a traffic accident. It prohibits charging an accident response service fee except in extraordinary circumstances involving events such as a technical rescue situation or a hazardous material spill.

The bill has been sent to Gov. Brownback for his signature. If the governor signs the bill Kansas will become the third state this year and 13th state in the country to enact legislation that prohibits or restricts the charging of accident response fees.

“We are urging Gov. Sam Brownback to sign this legislation which protects motorists from being charged a fee to receive essential emergency response services performed by law enforcement officials,” said Joe Woods vice president for PCI. “Public safety is the primary duty of local government and is paid for through property and other local taxes, so Kansas residents should not have to pay twice for emergency response services.”

Mark Johnston, state affairs manager – Midwest Region for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, also praised the Kansas Legislature’s passage of the bill.

“This bill reaffirms the growing realization across the country, most recently seen in New York City and Tulsa, that accident response fees are improper double taxation,” Johnston said. “These fees are also a threat to public safety, as motorists involved in an accident may avoid contacting law enforcement or emergency responders because they are reluctant to incur a charge of several hundred dollars for doing so.”

Topics Legislation Kansas