KTAR News reported that a motorcyclist was injured in Tempe after being struck by a driver alleged to have been impaired. According to the outlet, the man was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that authorities described as serious but non-life-threatening. No names or further details are published here.
When a motorcycle rider is hurt by a driver suspected of impairment, two separate processes begin, and they move on different tracks. The criminal case belongs to the state; a charge under A.R.S. § 28-1381 is an accusation, and no driver is guilty of anything until a court says so. The civil claim belongs to the injured rider, and it does not wait for the criminal outcome. A civil claim asks only whether the other driver failed to use reasonable care and whether that failure caused the harm. Under A.R.S. § 12-542, an injured rider generally has two years from the date of the injury to file suit in Arizona. Evidence of impairment, if it is established, can matter to a civil jury, but the claim stands or falls on ordinary negligence proof: what the driver did, what the rider was doing, and what the medical records show.
The Deadlines That Can End a Claim Before It Starts
Two deadlines matter most. The general personal injury statute of limitations, A.R.S. § 12-542, gives you two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit. If any public entity or public employee may share responsibility, for example a government vehicle or a roadway maintained by a city or the state, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim served within 180 days of when the claim accrues. Miss that 180-day window and the claim against the public entity is barred, even though the two-year deadline has not run.
A criminal prosecution can take far longer than either deadline. Waiting to see how a DUI case resolves before talking to anyone about the civil side is how riders lose claims they would have won.
Expect to Be Blamed, Partly
Arizona follows pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. Your recovery is reduced by whatever percentage of fault is assigned to you, but it is not eliminated; a rider found 30 percent at fault still recovers 70 percent of the damages. Insurers know this, and in motorcycle cases they argue speed, lane position, visibility, and gear to push that percentage up.
Two practical consequences. First, what you say in a recorded statement about how fast you were going or whether you saw the other vehicle gets used to build that percentage. You are not required to give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement. Second, the comparative fault rule means a rider who was doing something imperfect still has a claim worth pursuing.
What to Do in the First Weeks
- Follow the discharge instructions and go to every follow-up appointment. Gaps in treatment become the insurer's argument that the injury resolved.
- Get the crash report number and request the report. If a DUI investigation is open, parts of the file may be withheld for a time; the report still fixes the date, location, and the units that responded.
- Preserve the motorcycle and the gear. Do not let a salvage yard crush the bike, and do not throw out a damaged helmet, jacket, or boots. They are physical evidence of forces and of what you were wearing.
- Photograph injuries as they change, and keep a short written record of pain, sleep, and what you cannot do at work or at home.
- Report the crash to your own insurer, including underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. If the at-fault driver's policy limits are low, your own UM or UIM coverage may be the larger source of recovery.
- Do not post about the crash or your recovery on social media.
If you or a family member was hurt riding in Tempe, our Tempe motorcycle accident attorneys can explain where your claim stands and what deadlines apply to it.