Is it legal to ‘brake check’ a driver following you too closely? What Missouri law says
Ever driven on Missouri highways and found another driver right on your bumper, tailgating you?
Be careful not to flash those brake lights. You could find yourself in trouble — or worse.
A “brake check,” according to the city of Springfield, occurs when you are driving and you feel that the vehicle is driving too close to you. So you react by quickly applying your brakes to get the other driver’s attention so they will slow down, but you may also cause a rear-end crash.
It’s illegal to do this in Springfield, and you can be found liable for causing an accident if the car runs into you, but what about the rest of Missouri? Here’s what the law says.
Is brake checking illegal in Missouri?
Brake checking is illegal in Missouri, according to state statute 304.019. The statute says, “No person shall stop or suddenly decrease the speed of or turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after the giving of an appropriate signal in the manner provided herein.”
Missouri state statute 304.012 also says: “Every person operating a motor vehicle on the roads and highways of this state shall drive the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner and at a rate of speed so as not to endanger the property of another or the life or limb of any person and shall exercise the highest degree of care.”
Brake checking can fall under this because a driver who stops suddenly may not be operating the vehicle in a “careful and prudent manner,” according to Kansas City-based McAllister Law Firm.
So can tailgating, since Missouri state statute 304.017 says, “The driver of a vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonably safe and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicle and the traffic upon and the condition of the roadway”
“Drivers who follow other vehicles too closely risk causing a rear-end collision if the driver in front stops or slows down,” the law firm said in a blog post.
Failure to follow the statutes about safe driving is a Class C misdemeanor, and penalties can include up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, the law firm says. A brake check or tailgate that causes an accident is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. This does not include any insurance costs.
Who’s at fault in a brake checking accident?
Missouri is an at-fault state, which means that the person who is at fault for the accident is liable for any injuries or loss that follow. If it can be proven that the brake check caused the accident, then the driver who performed the action is at fault, said Andy Bell, Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson.
If you have a tailgater on your backside, you should maintain your speed, change lanes and allow them to pass as long as it’s safe, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
