After a Crash in South Dakota — Official Resources
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This is general information, not legal advice.
South Dakota is the only state in the country that decides shared fault by comparison rather than a percentage bar. Under SDCL 20-9-2, your own contributory negligence does not bar recovery when it was slight in comparison with the negligence of the defendant — but if it is more than slight, you recover nothing. South Dakota courts have put “more than slight” at roughly 30%. On reporting, SDCL 32-34-7 requires notice immediately, by the quickest means of communication, to the nearest available law enforcement officer with jurisdiction when a crash causes bodily injury or death, or property damage to an apparent extent of $1,000 or more to any one person’s property or $2,000 per accident. Violating that section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Crash reports are covered by South Dakota’s open records statute and kept 15 years; the fee is $4 to locate the report plus a $6 online convenience fee, delivered immediately to card payers. You need at least two identifying details to search.
Every other state in the country decides shared fault with a number — 51%, 50%, or none at all. South Dakota asks a question instead: was your share slight compared to theirs? It is the last surviving version of an old rule, it is genuinely nebulous, and it means the evidence you keep matters more here than a percentage calculation ever would. That is the first card. The first-steps checklist covers saving your dashcam clip before the camera loops.
Slight versus gross
SDCL 20-9-2 provides that the fact a plaintiff may have been guilty of contributory negligence does not bar a recovery when the contributory negligence of the plaintiff was slight in comparison with the negligence of the defendant — and in such a case, damages are reduced in proportion to the plaintiff’s share.
South Dakota is the only state that still uses this standard. It is not a percentage bar like the 50% and 51% rules elsewhere, and it is not pure comparative fault. It is a qualitative comparison, and if your negligence is judged more than slight relative to the other driver’s, your claim can be barred entirely rather than merely discounted. Because “slight” resists definition, South Dakota courts have come to treat contributory negligence of about 30% as more than slight.
What that means in practice. An adjuster arguing you were a third responsible is not negotiating a discount — they are arguing you get nothing. Do not speculate about what you might have done differently, do not apologise into a recorded statement, and preserve every objective thing you have. In a state where the fault line is a judgment call rather than a calculation, video that removes the argument is worth more than in almost any other jurisdiction.
Confirm how the rule applies to your situation with a South Dakota attorney; this is general information, not advice about your case.
Report the crash
The statute requires the driver of any motor vehicle involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury or death, or property damage to an apparent extent of $1,000 or more to any one person’s property or $2,000 per accident, to give notice immediately, by the quickest means of communication, to the nearest available law enforcement officer who has jurisdiction.
On the two numbers: you will see South Dakota’s threshold quoted as “$1,000 to $2,000,” which looks like uncertainty but is not. Both figures are in the same sentence of the same statute and do different work — $1,000 measured against any single person’s property, $2,000 measured across the whole accident. Either one triggers the duty.
A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor, so this is a criminal obligation rather than an administrative one. SDCL 32-34-3 separately imposes the duty to stop at the scene and render reasonable aid to anyone injured, which can include arranging transport to a doctor or hospital — though wait for emergency services where they are available rather than moving someone with a possible spinal injury.
Get the crash report
Per the South Dakota Office of Accident Records, vehicle crash reports are covered by the state’s open records statute and are maintained in the database for 15 years — an unusually long retention window if you are chasing an old crash.
The cost is $4 to locate and provide the report, plus a $6 convenience fee to purchase online. Debit and credit card customers using the online system receive their report immediately if it is available for purchase.
Come prepared with at least two identifying details. To obtain a South Dakota crash report you must be able to supply at least two items from the state’s list — date, location, names, report number and the like. If you do not have them, the Office of Accident Records says to contact the law enforcement agency that investigated the crash to get them first.
Hit-and-run
Call it in immediately — the notice duty under 32-34-7 is criminal, and a fled driver does not suspend it.
Then think about the fault rule above, because a hit-and-run interacts with it badly. With the other driver gone, there is nobody whose negligence yours can be compared against, and an insurer handling an uninsured-motorist claim will still evaluate whether your share was more than slight. On US-14 or a gravel section road in Perkins County there is frequently no witness at all. Save your clip and note the time and location while they’re exact — in South Dakota the plate is not just how the driver gets found, it is how you avoid having a fault argument run entirely on the other side’s account. Uninsured-motorist coverage is the usual route to payment when nobody is identified; check its hit-and-run notice window.
Find a lawyer
The State Bar of South Dakota Lawyer Referral Service is a public service that matches you with a local lawyer, searchable by city or zip code and practice area, with the option to look for a private attorney or for free and legal-aid help. In the consultation you get guidance on the nature of your legal issue and a discussion of the costs of hiring an attorney — fees are set by each attorney rather than capped by the service, so ask up front.
One caveat the Bar states itself, and it is worth respecting. The referral service confirms that participating attorneys are active members in good standing, but does not determine, evaluate or endorse their qualifications in any particular practice area. Good standing is a floor, not a recommendation — ask directly how much crash-injury work the lawyer actually does.
Most injury work in South Dakota is handled on contingency, so ask about that rather than assuming you need a retainer.
Free legal help
South Dakota splits free civil legal aid geographically, and the State Bar publishes the map. East River Legal Services covers 33 counties in eastern South Dakota. Dakota Plains Legal Services covers 33 counties in western South Dakota and all reservations within the state — and unusually, it accepts tribal criminal and civil issues as well as civil matters, which matters a great deal if your crash happened on tribal land.
Access to Justice, Inc. is the State Bar’s own nonprofit legal services program, providing free and reduced-rate civil legal assistance to income-eligible South Dakotans. All three take applications through the shared SD Law Help online system, so one application reaches the right provider.
Also: SD Free Legal Answers, a secure site where lower-income residents can ask an attorney about a legal issue, and the Bar’s Ask-A-Lawyer public service events. Bear in mind that legal aid programs generally prioritise basic-needs civil matters over injury claims — for the crash claim itself, a contingency-fee attorney is usually the practical route.
Insurance problems
South Dakota regulates insurers through the Division of Insurance within the Department of Labor and Regulation, which takes consumer complaints about how claims are handled. You can reach its current complaint channels through the national directory of state insurance departments.
Worth understanding the division of labour: because of the slight-versus-gross rule, most South Dakota denials get framed as fault determinations rather than coverage disputes. The Division can press an insurer on how it handled your claim; whether the fault call was right is a legal question for the referral service above.
Uninsured when it happened? The 32-34-7 notice duty applies regardless of coverage and is criminal, so not reporting adds a misdemeanor to whatever else you are facing. Report it, then get advice — and be aware that in a slight-versus-gross state, an uninsured driver with no lawyer facing an insurer’s adjuster is in a genuinely poor negotiating position.
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Dashwatcher is a dashcam company, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for a licensed attorney. Reporting rules, deadlines, and programs differ by state and change over time; verify everything with the official source before you rely on it. Links go to government agencies, bar associations, and nonprofits. Dashwatcher receives no payment from any organization listed.
From the team at Dashwatcher.
Last verified: August 4, 2026