Arizona gives you two years to file most personal injury lawsuits, counted from the date the injury occurred (A.R.S. § 12-542). Miss that window and your case is almost certainly gone — not weakened, gone. Courts will dismiss it. The at-fault party and their insurer walk away without paying anything, no matter how clear the evidence might be.
Two years sounds like a long time. It usually isn't.
What the two-year rule covers
The standard deadline under A.R.S. § 12-542 applies to most personal injury claims: car and truck accidents, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents, bicycle collisions, slip-and-fall cases, dog bites, product liability injuries, and assault. The clock starts the day the injury happens.
Building a solid claim — gathering medical records, accident reports, witness statements, expert opinions — takes months. Clients who wait until month 23 to call an attorney regularly end up with fewer options and weaker cases.
Government entities: a much shorter window
If your injury involved a city bus, a municipal employee, a public road hazard, or any government-owned vehicle, the standard two-year deadline doesn't apply. Under A.R.S. § 12-821.01, you must file a formal Notice of Claim with the relevant agency within 180 days of the injury. That's roughly six months. Miss it and you're barred from suing, even if two full years haven't passed. This catches more people off guard than almost any other rule in Arizona injury law.
Injuries to minors
When the injured person is under 18, the two-year period generally doesn't start running until their 18th birthday, giving them until age 20 to file. That exception doesn't apply to claims against government entities — the 180-day Notice of Claim requirement still applies regardless of age.
The discovery rule
In some cases, mostly medical malpractice, a person may not know they were harmed or that negligence caused it until later. Arizona courts can apply the discovery rule, starting the limitations clock when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been. A.R.S. § 12-542 governs most of these claims, and the outer limits depend on the specifics.
Wrongful death
If a loved one died because of someone else's negligence, the two-year deadline runs from the date of death, not the underlying accident. Arizona's wrongful death statute is at A.R.S. § 12-611 et seq. Our wrongful death practice page covers who can bring these claims and what damages are available.
Why waiting hurts you before the deadline hits
Surveillance footage gets overwritten, sometimes within days. Witnesses forget details or become hard to locate. Medical records become harder to tie to the accident if there are gaps in treatment. Adjusters are trained to use delay against you — it's an argument that your injuries weren't serious, or that something else caused them.
None of those problems wait two years to surface. They start immediately. Our car accident attorneys consistently find that clients who reach out early — even just for a free consultation — end up in substantially stronger positions.
Arizona's comparative fault rule
Arizona follows pure comparative fault (A.R.S. § 12-2505), which means you can recover damages even if you were partly at fault for the accident. Your award is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, but you're not shut out entirely. That makes it worth pursuing a claim in situations where people assume they have no case. More on how that works is in our post on Arizona comparative negligence law.
If you've been injured, call Sher Law Group at (480) 418-SHER (7437) or reach out online. Consultations are free, and there's no fee unless we win.