Northbound Loop 101, the Pima Freeway, reopened near the Tempe-Scottsdale border after a crash near McKellips Road, according to KTAR News. The outlet reported that the short closure was caused by the crash, citing the Arizona Department of Transportation. No further details about those involved were reported.
A freeway crash that closes travel lanes for only a short time can still produce a serious injury claim, and the evidence supporting that claim disappears faster than on a city street. Once a closure is lifted, debris is swept away, vehicles go to tow yards, and the lane positions that show how the collision happened exist only in photographs and in the investigating agency's report. Arizona gives an injured person two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit under A.R.S. § 12-542, but that deadline is the outer limit, not a reason to wait. If a government vehicle or a public employee is involved, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and missing it bars the claim entirely. Request the crash report, photograph your vehicle before repairs, and get examined even if you walked away feeling intact.
Arizona Divides Fault by Percentage, So Partial Blame Is Not a Dead End
Insurers often tell drivers in multi-vehicle freeway crashes that they share enough blame to have no claim. That is not how Arizona works. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, Arizona follows pure comparative fault; your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault, but it is not eliminated. Someone found 30 percent at fault for following too closely can still recover 70 percent of their damages. There is no cutoff percentage that bars a claim outright.
This matters most in chain-reaction crashes and lane-change collisions, where fault is genuinely divided and where a single early statement to an adjuster can be used to inflate your share. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. Say what happened to the investigating officer, then let the report and the physical evidence carry the argument.
What to Do in the First Week After a Freeway Collision
Practical steps, in order of how quickly the opportunity closes:
- Get checked by a doctor or urgent care within a day or two. Adrenaline masks soft tissue and head injuries, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an insurer points to.
- Photograph your vehicle from all four corners, plus the interior, before any repair or salvage. Once the vehicle is released or scrapped, that evidence is gone.
- Request the crash report from the investigating agency. Reports are typically not available the same day; follow up until you have it.
- Write down what you remember while it is fresh: lane you were in, direction of travel, what you saw before impact.
- Notify your own insurer, and ask specifically whether you carry medical payments coverage and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Both can pay regardless of who was at fault.
- Keep every bill, every out-of-pocket receipt, and a record of missed work.
Arizona law also requires drivers involved in a collision to stop and remain at the scene and exchange information under A.R.S. § 28-661. If a driver left, that is a fact for law enforcement to address, and it does not close off your ability to pursue a claim through your own uninsured motorist coverage.
If a Crash on This Stretch of Loop 101 Caused a Death
Freeway speeds mean some collisions are fatal. Arizona handles those claims through two separate paths. A wrongful death action under A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613 belongs to the surviving spouse, children, parents, or the personal representative of the estate, and it compensates the family for their own losses. A survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 is brought by the estate for what the person who died suffered before death. The two are filed together and valued differently, and which family members are entitled to what is a question worth sorting out early rather than after a settlement offer arrives.
If you were hurt in this collision or any other on the Pima Freeway, a Scottsdale car accident lawyer can request the crash report and preserve the vehicle evidence before it is released.