A four-vehicle crash on SR-101 near Cardinals Way in Glendale was fatal, and authorities said a suspected impaired driver is being investigated, 12 News reported on September 1, 2026. No determination of fault has been made, and an investigation being open is not a finding against anyone.
A four-vehicle crash is not one case with one defendant; it is a fault-apportionment problem. Arizona applies pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505, which means a jury assigns each party a percentage and each pays their share. In a chain involving four vehicles, the driver who started it may carry most of it, while a following driver who was too close, or one who swerved into another lane, can pick up a portion. That matters to an injured person for a practical reason: with several drivers involved, there are several policies, and the total available coverage is usually larger than in a two-car crash. It cuts the other way too, since every insurer in the chain has a reason to point at the others. Establishing sequence, position and speed early, from the scene rather than from memory, is what settles those arguments later.
Where a criminal DUI case fits
If the investigation leads to impaired driving charges under A.R.S. § 28-1381, that case runs on its own track and answers a different question. A criminal court decides guilt beyond reasonable doubt and can impose a sentence; it does not compensate anyone who was hurt. The civil claim runs in parallel on the lower civil standard, so a civil case can succeed whether or not a criminal charge does. A conviction, if one follows, is useful evidence in the civil case rather than the thing that creates it.
When a crash is fatal
Arizona's wrongful death statute, A.R.S. §§ 12-611 through 12-613, gives the right to sue to a defined group in a fixed order: the surviving spouse, the children, the parents or guardians, or the estate's personal representative acting for them. One action is filed no matter how many family members have lost someone. A separate survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 belongs to the estate and recovers what the deceased could have claimed had they lived, including the pain endured before death. Families frequently pursue the first and never learn about the second.
If you lost someone or were injured in a crash in the city, our Glendale car accident lawyer page explains how these claims work locally.