Dashboard cameras, or dashcams, are increasing in popularity as a security measure for Missouri drivers. They are no longer present just in law enforcement vehicles, but regular people often purchase these pieces of equipment and install them in their own cars.
You may be wondering: in the event of a St. Louis car accident, is that footage admissible?
Are Dash Cams Legal in Missouri?
The short answer is yes. Currently, there are no legal restrictions for dash camera usage in the state of Missouri. Many other states, however, do impose certain restrictions on dash cameras. So, if your accident takes place out of state and the matter needs to be resolved elsewhere, restrictions will likely apply to your car accident claim.
Dash cameras record and store videos, and are designed to operate independently. The driver does not need to perform any action while driving to activate it. Some more expensive equipment can have different types of features, such as parking mode where they continue to record video footage even when the vehicle stops.
Are These Videos Admissible?
According to Missouri courts, you can admit video footage of an accident into evidence. Most of the time, these cases go through one of the drivers’ insurance companies, who may or may not have dashcam policies. However, even if the company is reluctant to accepting dashcam videos or denies introducing them into evidence, your St. Louis car accident lawyer could argue it’s relevance and take the matters in front of a judge.
However, that doesn’t mean all dash camera footage is valuable or can help a case. For instance, if the video footage is of low quality (grainy, blurry, etc.) then it may not effectively show what happened at the scene.
This is often an issue particularly if the accident takes place at night. Most people purchase more affordable cameras that have a difficult time recording when there is little light, so it’s possible for the footage not to reveal anything important.
Speak With an Attorney
In the event of a car accident where you get injured, you may be entitled to compensation. Please contact an experienced St. Louis car accident lawyer before you file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company. These cases require a lot of evidence that proves your side of the story, and an attorney can help you acquire it.