303.040. Motor vehicle accidents to be reported--director to notify all other parties, contents--parties to furnish information.
Motor vehicle accidents to be reported--director to notify allother parties, contents--parties to furnish information.
303.040. 1. The operator or owner of every motor vehiclewhich is involved in an accident within this state or the ownerof a legally or illegally parked car which is in any mannerinvolved in an accident within this state, with an uninsuredmotorist, upon the streets or highways thereof, or on anypublicly or privately owned parking lot or parking facilitygenerally open for use by the public, in which any person iskilled or injured or in which damage to property of any oneperson, including himself, in excess of five hundred dollars issustained, and the owner or operator of every motor vehicle whichis involved in an accident within this state if such owner oroperator does not carry motor vehicle liability insurance shall,within thirty days after such accident, report the matter inwriting to the director. Such report, the form of which shall beprescribed by the director, shall provide the operator withnotice of the following:
(1) That it is the responsibility of the operator, not thestate, to bring an action at law on the claim of the operatorarising out of the accident;
(2) That the security deposited shall only be applied to thepayment of a judgment against the person or persons on whosebehalf the deposit was made;
(3) That the department of revenue shall return the depositto the depositor after the expiration of one year from the dateof the accident, or as otherwise provided in section 303.060. Inaddition, the report shall contain such information as willenable the director to determine whether the requirements for thedeposit of security under section 303.030 are inapplicable byreason of the existence of insurance or other exceptionsspecified in this chapter, or whether the required financialresponsibility has been met by the owner or operator of the motorvehicle as required by section 303.025. The director may relyupon the accuracy of such information unless and until he hasreason to believe that the information is erroneous. If suchoperator be physically incapable of making such report, the ownerof the motor vehicle involved in such accident shall, withinthirty days after learning of the accident, make such report. Ifthe operator is also the owner and is incapable of filing suchreport as is required by this section, then the report will befiled as soon as the operator-owner is so capable. If the reportis late by reason of incapability, a doctor's certificate mustaccompany the report certifying same. The operator or the ownershall furnish such additional relevant information as thedirector shall require.
2. If any party involved in an accident files a report underthis section, the director shall notify, within ten days afterreceipt of the report, all other parties involved in the accidentas specified in the report that a report has been filed and suchother parties shall then furnish, within ten days, the directorwith such information as the director may request.
(L. 1953 p. 569, A.L. 1976 H.B. 1392, A.L. 1979 H.B. 167, A.L. 1986 S.B. 424)Effective 7-1-87