12 News reported that one person was injured in a two-vehicle crash on Loop 101 in the West Valley. Camera footage from the Arizona Department of Transportation showed a large traffic backup on Loop 101 near Glendale Avenue. No further details about the collision were included in the report.
When two vehicles collide on an Arizona freeway and only one person is reported injured, the injured person's claim usually turns on two questions: who breached a duty of care, and what the medical record shows. Arizona uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505, meaning a person who is found partly responsible still recovers damages, reduced by that person's own percentage of fault. There is no cutoff; even a plaintiff assigned most of the blame recovers something. The deadline to file suit for personal injury is generally two years from the date of the crash under A.R.S. § 12-542, and if a government entity or employee is a defendant, a written notice of claim must be served within 180 days under A.R.S. § 12-821.01. Insurers often request a recorded statement early, before treatment is complete. Nothing requires an injured person to give one to the other driver's insurer.
Fault in a Two-Vehicle Freeway Crash Is Usually Decided After the Fact
A traffic backup tells you nothing about who was at fault. In a two-vehicle freeway collision, the drivers often give conflicting accounts, and the investigating officer may not witness the impact. Fault gets built from evidence: the physical damage patterns on both vehicles, the final rest positions, lane markings and debris fields, any available camera footage, and statements from drivers behind or alongside the vehicles involved.
That evidence disappears quickly. Vehicles get repaired or sold for salvage, footage is overwritten on a schedule measured in days or weeks, and witnesses who stopped on the shoulder are hard to locate later if nobody took their contact information. If you were injured, the single most useful thing you can do early is preserve what still exists. Ask that your vehicle not be repaired or disposed of until it has been photographed in detail, and request a copy of the police report as soon as it is available.
What Arizona Law Requires of Drivers After a Collision
Under A.R.S. § 28-661, a driver involved in a crash that results in injury or death must stop at the scene, remain there, and provide identifying and insurance information. Leaving is a felony. If the other driver left, that does not end your claim; your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply, and an unidentified driver can sometimes be traced through footage or witness accounts.
Arizona also requires drivers to carry liability insurance, but the minimum limits are low relative to the cost of a serious injury. Check your own policy for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and for medical payments coverage. Medical payments coverage pays treatment costs regardless of who was at fault, and using it does not require you to prove anything about the other driver.
Practical Steps If You Were the Injured Person
Get evaluated, even if you walked away. Head injuries, internal bleeding, and spinal injuries frequently present hours or days later, and a gap between the crash and the first medical visit is the argument an insurer will use to say the injury came from something else.
Then do these things in order. Report the crash to your own insurer, which your policy requires, and keep that report factual. Write down your own account of what happened while it is fresh, including which lane you were in and what you saw before impact. Keep every bill, every explanation of benefits, and a record of work you missed. Do not accept a quick settlement before you know whether you need further treatment; once you sign a release, the claim is closed even if your condition worsens.
If you or a family member was injured in this collision, you can read more about how these claims are handled on our Glendale car accident practice page.