Hit-and-Run Laws & What to Do in Missouri

Getting struck by a driver who then speeds off leaves you with damage, maybe injuries, and nobody to hand you an insurance card. It's also more common than it used to be. Nationally, drivers who left the scene were tied to 2,872 deaths in 2023, roughly 7 percent of all crash deaths and the highest share on record.¹ Missouri has its own rules for what a driver must do after a wreck and what happens when they don't. Those rules decide both how the state prosecutes the person who fled and how you, the one left behind, get paid.

What Missouri requires a driver to do after a crash

Missouri's leaving-the-scene law is section 577.060 of the Revised Statutes.² It reaches any driver "involved in an accident resulting in injury or death or damage to property of another person." If you know the crash happened, you have to stop. Before leaving, you have to give four specific things to the other party or to a law enforcement officer: your name, your residence including city and street number, your vehicle's registration or license number, and your operator's license number.² If no officer is nearby, the statute directs you to report the crash to the nearest law enforcement agency.²

That duty applies to a minor parking-lot tap and to a serious collision alike, and it applies even if you're convinced the other driver caused it. Driving off to "sort it out later" is the act the statute punishes.

The penalties climb fast once someone is hurt

Leaving the scene starts as a class A misdemeanor, which in Missouri carries up to one year in county jail.²³ It doesn't stay a misdemeanor once injuries or real damage enter the picture.

The offense becomes a class E felony if any one of three things is true: physical injury was caused to another party, damage over $1,000 was done to someone's property, or the driver has a prior conviction under this same section.² A class E felony carries up to four years in prison.³ Because $1,000 in damage is easy to reach with a modern bumper or fender, many Missouri hit-and-runs become felonies on the property figure alone.

If a death resulted from the accident, leaving the scene is a class D felony,² punishable by up to seven years.³

What it does to your license

The criminal case is only half of the exposure. A conviction for leaving the scene under section 577.060 adds 12 points to your Missouri driving record.⁴ That single number is decisive, because the Director of Revenue revokes a license as soon as a driver reaches 12 points in 12 months.⁵ One leaving-the-scene conviction hits that line by itself.

The revocation lasts one year, but only if you file proof of financial responsibility (commonly an SR-22 filing). Without it, the revocation stays in effect for two years.⁵ For context, it takes eight points in eighteen months just to earn a much shorter suspension.⁵

If you're the victim, here's how you actually get paid

The driver who fled may never be identified, and if caught, may carry no insurance. Missouri law is built for that. Every auto liability policy issued in the state must include uninsured motorist (UM) coverage at limits of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash.⁶

The part that matters most for hit-and-run is inside the UM statute itself. Section 379.203 says your coverage applies even when "the identity of the owner or operator of the motor vehicle cannot be established because such owner or operator and the motor vehicle departed the scene."⁶ It goes further and says coverage exists "whether or not physical contact was made" between the other vehicle and yours.⁶ A phantom driver who forced you off the road without ever touching your car can still be a covered UM claim.

One caution. Insurers read the no-contact language narrowly and will look for corroboration beyond your own statement: a police report, a witness, physical evidence, or dashcam footage. Report the crash promptly and hold onto whatever you have. If the fleeing driver is later found and insured, your claim runs first against their policy, which by law must carry at least 25/50/25 limits ($25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per crash, $25,000 property damage).⁷ If you're weighing whether to bring a claim, you can find a Missouri attorney through the legal directory.

Deadlines that decide your civil claim

For money damages, Missouri gives you five years to file suit. The deadline comes from section 516.120(4), the state's catch-all injury provision, and it covers both your bodily injury claim and damage to the vehicle.⁸ Five years is longer than most states allow, but your own UM policy can impose shorter notice or filing deadlines, so read it early rather than assuming you have the full five.

Two steps are worth taking soon. Pull the official Missouri crash report, which the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Patrol Records Division keeps.⁹ And if your car is worth less on resale now that it has an accident on its record, that loss is a separate diminished value claim.

What to do right now

If a car just hit you and took off:

• Stop and stay at the scene. Moving your own vehicle beyond what safety plainly requires can put you on the wrong side of section 577.060 too.²
• Call 911. An officer at the scene, or the nearest agency, is exactly who the law wants notified, and the resulting report anchors your UM claim.
• Capture the other vehicle before the details fade: any part of the plate, color, make, direction of travel, visible damage, plus the time and location.
• Get names and numbers from any witnesses, and photograph your damage and the scene.

Then open a UM claim with your own insurer, and if the injuries are serious or the insurer disputes what happened, talk to a lawyer before you give a recorded statement.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Hit-and-Run Crashes Research Brief (March 2026). https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/202603-AAAFTS-Hit-and-Run-Crashes-Research-Brief.pdf

2. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 577.060 (Leaving the scene of an accident, penalties). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=577.060

3. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 558.011 (Sentence of imprisonment, terms). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=558.011

4. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 302.302 (Point system, assessment for violation). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=302.302

5. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 302.304 (Suspension and revocation of license, points). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=302.304

6. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 379.203 (Uninsured motorist coverage required). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=379.203

7. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 303.190 (Motor vehicle liability policy, required limits). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=303.190

8. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 516.120 (Actions to be commenced within five years). https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.120

9. Missouri State Highway Patrol, Patrol Records Division, Traffic Crash Reports. https://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/PRD/TrafficCrashReports/PRDCrashReports.html