Car accidents happen in seconds, but what you do in the minutes, hours, and days afterwards can shape everything that follows, from your health to your insurance claim to your peace of mind. If you’ve just been in a car accident in Missouri, or you want to be prepared in case you ever are, here’s a clear, calm, step-by-step walkthrough of what to do.
1. Check for Safety First
Before anything else, check yourself and any passengers for injuries. If you’re able to, move your vehicle out of traffic if it’s safe to do so, and turn on your hazard lights. Your safety and the safety of everyone else on the road come before paperwork or phone calls.
If your car can’t be moved, or if anyone is seriously injured, stay where you are and wait for help rather than risking further injury.
2. Call 911 and Get a Police Report
Even for minor accidents, it’s worth calling law enforcement. A police report creates an official, timestamped record of what happened, including driver statements, road conditions, and often a preliminary opinion on fault, which can matter significantly later when dealing with insurance companies. If anyone is injured, request medical assistance immediately.
In Missouri, a crash typically needs to be reported to police if it results in injury, death, or more than $500 in property damage, but calling regardless of the threshold is rarely a bad idea. It’s far easier to have a report and not need it than to need one and not have it.
3. Document Everything at the Scene
If you’re physically able to, use your phone to:
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Photograph all vehicles involved, from multiple angles
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Capture the road conditions, traffic signs, signals, and any skid marks
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Note the time, weather, and exact location
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Get the other driver’s name, contact information, insurance details, and license plate number
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Collect contact information from any witnesses
The more documentation you have, the fewer disputes tend to arise later about what actually happened, and in a state like Missouri, where fault percentages can directly affect your compensation (more on that below), solid documentation is one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself.
4. Get a Medical Evaluation: Even If You Feel Fine
Adrenaline can mask pain. Some injuries, like whiplash, soft-tissue damage, or internal trauma, don’t show symptoms right away, sometimes not for days. Getting checked out, even as a precaution, protects your health and creates a medical record tied to the date of the accident, which can become important if you later need to prove your injuries were caused by the crash rather than something else.
Insurance adjusters look closely at gaps between the accident date and your first medical visit. A same-day or next-day evaluation removes one of the easiest points they might otherwise use to question your claim.
5. Understand Missouri’s Comparative Fault Rule
One thing that surprises a lot of people: in Missouri, being partly at fault for an accident doesn’t automatically disqualify you from recovering compensation.
Missouri follows what’s called a pure comparative fault rule (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.765). In practical terms, this means that even if you’re found to share some responsibility for a crash, you can still recover a percentage of your damages, reduced by your share of the fault. If your damages total $50,000 and you’re found 20% at fault, you could still recover $40,000.
This is a more forgiving system than many states use, but it also means fault percentages are actively contested. Insurance companies know how the math works, and they have an incentive to push your assigned fault percentage as high as possible to reduce what they owe. This is exactly why the documentation from Step 3 matters so much: clear photos, witness contacts, and a police report all help establish an accurate picture of what happened, rather than leaving it open to interpretation.
6. Notify Your Insurance Company
Most policies require prompt notification after an accident, regardless of who was at fault. When you report it, stick to the facts: what happened, where, and when. Avoid speculating about fault or minimizing your injuries. Let the facts speak for themselves, and let the investigation determine responsibility.
7. Be Careful What You Say to the Other Driver’s Insurance
It’s common for the other party’s insurance company to reach out quickly, sometimes within a day or two of the accident. Be polite, but be cautious. You’re not obligated to give a recorded statement right away, and it’s completely reasonable to say you’ll follow up once you’ve had time to fully assess your injuries and the situation.
Adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that can make a partial admission of fault sound casual. There’s no need to rush this conversation.
8. Know Missouri’s Filing Deadlines
Every state sets a legal deadline, called a statute of limitations, for how long you have to file a claim after an accident. Missing it can mean losing your right to pursue compensation entirely, no matter how strong your case is. In Missouri:
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Most car accident and personal injury claims: generally five years from the date of the injury (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120)
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Wrongful death claims: generally three years from the date of death (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.100)
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Claims involving a government vehicle or entity: often much shorter, sometimes as little as 90 days to file an initial notice
