Arguably, one of the worst feelings anyone can experience is believing that someone they know and love was in a car accident. Perhaps you did not hear from the person when you expected to; maybe you were talking to them but got cut off by a sudden loud noise. In any case, you may have considerable difficulty determining whether your loved one was involved in a crash, but there are, in fact, ways to do so.
Typical Process for Notifying Emergency Contacts
Drivers involved in a car accident of any severity will usually call the police. Under Missouri law, the police must investigate and produce accident reports for any crash that involves the following:
- Death
- Injury
- Property damage to any one person valuing more than $500
Once they call the police, the drivers will wait at the crash scene until officers (and other emergency personnel) arrive. Vehicle occupants with life-threatening injuries will be taken from the scene to an emergency room, but those with less severe injuries typically must stay on-site until the police complete their investigation.
Generally, the police will not call a vehicle occupant’s emergency contacts unless the occupant dies or suffers such serious injuries that they cannot communicate. Even then, the police may leave that responsibility to hospital staff, primarily because the hospital will have more information for the emergency contact than the officers on the scene.
Missouri, however, does not gather emergency contacts for driver’s license holders at all. Legislators did propose a bill to add emergency contact information to the driver’s license database but the law was not passed. Thus, the only way for hospitals or police officers to notify someone of the crash is by going to the driver’s listed address or searching their phone for an emergency contact number.
If your loved one provided an emergency contact number in their phone, the police or hospital can recover the information to notify you of the crash. However, when the police or hospital cannot find an emergency contact, you may need to find your loved one yourself.
Steps for Finding a Loved One Involved in a Crash
You have several possible resources for finding out if someone you know was involved in a crash; however, none of these options has complete information. Thus, you may need to check several of the following sources before finding your loved one or learning that they have not been involved in a car accident:
Traffic and Incident Reports
Missouri has two online resources for finding recent car crash information. The first is the online traffic crash report database, operated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP). It provides current information about crashes for which a police officer has prepared and filed a crash report.
The second resource is an online crash map that shows the location of reported traffic crashes in Missouri. Although the page updates in real-time as officers file reports, it only contains preliminary information for crashes still under investigation. In other words, you might not immediately see complete information, such as the names of crash victims.
Instead, you may encounter a lag in reporting due to the time required for an officer to investigate a crash and complete an accident report. Serious accidents, including fatal crashes and those resulting from criminal acts like DUI, might take hours or even days to investigate.
Additionally, after they complete the investigation, officers may need time to prepare the report and inform the next of kin before posting information online. Moreover, prosecutors may block the report’s release if they plan to file criminal charges for DUI, reckless driving, or other serious offenses.
All of these details are to say that neither of these resources will provide the most current information if you suspect your loved one was involved in a recent crash.
Places to Check if No Report Has Been Made
You have other options if you cannot find a relevant traffic crash report. For one, you can contact local police agencies where you suspect the accident might have occurred, as doing so can provide more updated information than the MSHP’s website. However, you must contact the department handling the crash investigation; if you call the wrong agency, you might not receive any information.
You can also call local hospitals, but like police agencies, there is no number you can call to get information for all hospitals at once. Occasionally, healthcare providers can provide information for all the hospitals they operate, meaning a call to Mercy might give you results for Mercy Hospitals throughout the state. Still, other hospitals may only have records for patients in their facilities.
Furthermore, hospitals can provide limited information under state and federal privacy laws. If your loved one has a common name, you might not receive enough information from the administrators to find the right patient.
Beyond that, you can always check with co-workers, friends, or family members, especially if they are closer to the suspected crash site than you. And if any of them are listed as emergency contacts on the person’s phone, the authorities might have informed them about the crash.
Finally, you can check news reports. Television stations and online news sites often report on notable crashes. The drawback of relying on such an option is that the police will typically refrain from releasing any names of victims until after notifying their families.
Things You Can Do to Stay Connected With Family Members
Remaining in contact with family members can prevent a frantic search when you suspect an accident. Some steps you can take to stay connected include the following:
- Provide your contact information to your child’s school, sports leagues, and clubs
- Have your loved ones add you to their emergency contacts on their phones
- Buy your loved one an emergency alert bracelet engraved with your information
Additionally, both iOS and Android devices have crash detection technology that automatically activates when it detects the user traveling in a vehicle. If it senses a crash, the phone can either automatically notify 911 and the stored emergency contacts or prompt the user to tap the screen to contact them.
Requesting a Copy of the Official Crash Report in Missouri
The MSHP posts preliminary information online when a unit responds to a call for assistance and determines that the crash involves injury or death. While the MSHP responds to property damage-only crashes, it does not post preliminary information online for these crashes. Once the investigation is completed, the website will contain a final crash report.
Accident reports take time to prepare, so you will likely learn of your loved one’s status before the investigating officers complete it. However, the report still serves valuable purposes after a car accident, such as identifying each driver’s insurer and helping explain what occurred.
You can request a copy of a crash report from the MSHP by calling the local troop headquarters that investigated the crash or the traffic division at (573) 526-6113. The agency may need up to ten days to post the official report. Local police agencies also file their accident reports with the MSHP; they do not appear on the website, but you can still request them.
Consult With the Best Car Accident Lawyers in St. Louis Today
Missouri law entitles crash victims to seek accident compensation for injury-related expenses and financial losses, such as medical bills and lost income. Beck & Beck can help guide you or your loved one through the insurance claims and legal processes to seek fair compensation from the at-fault driver and their insurer.
Contact us today to speak with a committed and top rated St. Louis car accident lawyer. Beck & Beck’s Missouri car crash law firm is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we are always available to offer you legal assistance after a car crash.
