Missouri Motorcycle Insurance

Missouri law requires that all motor vehicle drivers and owners maintain some type of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage. In an effort to ensure that motorist maintain that coverage, the state requires motorists to show proof of insurance when registering a vehicle and when renewing their license plates.

Missouri is an ”at fault” motorcycle insurance state. If you do not have the right coverage in place and are found at fault in an accident, you will face fines, penalties, license suspension, and potential jail time. To help you understand motorcycle insurance issues in Missouri, let’s have a look at how the state defines a motorcycle for law enforcement and insurance purposes, some of the required equipment to make your bike street legal, as well as the coverage levels and types you may need.

Missouri Street-Legal Motorcycle Requirements

To the average person defining a motorcycle seems a waste of time, but every state is required to clearly define one for law enforcement and insurance purposes. According to the legislature in Missouri, a motorcycle:

“Has a seat or a saddle for the use of the rider and is designed to travel with only 2 or 3 wheels on the ground, having an automatic or manual transmission; and a motor with a cylinder capacity of more than fifty cubic centimeters, which produces more than three gross brake horsepower, and is capable of propelling the device at more than thirty miles per hour on level ground.”

The Show Me State is a great place to ride. Leave the crowded urban areas and you are in breathtaking rural settings. Whether you are competing with congested traffic or not, your bike needs to be street legal at all times. In Missouri, the equipment you and your bike must have includes:

• Eye protection: not required.
• Handlebar height: maximum of 15 inches above the seat.
• Helmet: required for all riders.
• Mirrors: none required.
• Turn Signals: not required.
• Passenger Seat and Passenger Footrests: not required. No restrictions on a passenger’s age.
• Headlight: required; a modulating daytime headlight is approved.
• Muffler: required, no acoustical requirements.
• Safety Inspection: periodic inspection required.

Missouri Minimum Motorcycle Insurance

Missouri’s mandatory motorcycle insurance laws require that riders have a policy with these minimum limits:

• $25,000 for death or bodily injury to one person
• $50,000 for death or bodily injury to two or more persons
• $10,000 for damage or destruction of property

While Missouri has higher coverage requirements than some states, an accident that results in a serious injury could eat-up those limits quickly. When your policy falls short, you will be responsible for all additional costs, potentially draining your life savings, whether you are at fault or not.

Motorcycle Collision and Comprehensive Coverage

The basic coverage amounts required in Missouri are fairly high, but they only cover liability. You need additional coverage to protect your bike and self from accidents and mishaps.

Collision coverage: this protects your bike in an accident under nearly every circumstance. It may or may not include uninsured/under-insured coverage. If it doesn’t, take care to add it.

Uninsured/Under-insured motorist coverage: given that 13.5 percent of the motorists in Missouri are uninsured on any given day, you can understand the need for this type of coverage. The under-insured aspect of the policy protects you in case the other driver is from a state with lower minimum requirements or the injuries exceed the policy caps of an at fault motorist.

Comprehensive coverage: this protection covers items like fire, wind, water, theft, and vandalism.

Bodily injury coverage: this protection covers certain costs if you injure or kill someone in an at-fault accident. It also protects your passenger.

Medical payment coverage: this covers items such as prescription drug payments; dental care; medical co-payments and deductibles from other health coverage policies; home nursing care, or funeral expenses.