Missouri’s hit-and-run law can be found in Missouri Revised Statute § 577.060. The statute outlines the steps you need to take to avoid a hit-and-run charge following a car accident.
Here’s what you need to do if you’re involved in an accident that causes property damage, injury, or death:
Stop your vehicle at the scene of the accident (or as close to the scene as possible),
Provide your name, address, motor vehicle number, and driver’s license number to any person involved in the crash,
Render reasonable assistance to anyone injured, and
Report the accident to the local police (if someone suffered an injury or died, the other driver was uninsured, or more than $500 of property damage was sustained).
Enjuris tip:Notably, you won’t be convicted of a hit-and-run if you fled the scene without knowing that you hit someone. However, you should be very careful about relying on this defense, as it’s extremely difficult to prove that you didn’t know you hit someone and most judges and juries are skeptical of this argument.
If the vehicle you hit was unoccupied (or you hit a fixed object), you must leave a note with your information at the scene and report the accident to the police.