According to 12 News, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a commercial vehicle on Interstate 17 near New River on Monday morning. The Arizona Department of Public Safety reported the crash. No findings of fault have been announced, and nothing below assumes any.
When a pedestrian is killed by a commercial vehicle on an Arizona highway, two separate claims can arise from the same event. Arizona's wrongful death statutes, A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613, allow a surviving spouse, child, parent, or the personal representative of the estate to recover for what the family loses: financial support, companionship, guidance, grief, and funeral and burial costs. A separate survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 belongs to the estate and covers losses the person suffered before death, including medical expenses. Responsibility for a commercial vehicle is rarely limited to the person behind the wheel. The motor carrier that employed the driver, the company whose freight was being hauled, and any entity responsible for inspection or maintenance can each be a defendant with its own insurance policy. Arizona also applies pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505, so a recovery is reduced by any share of fault assigned to the person who died, but it is never eliminated by it.
Comparative Fault Matters More in Highway Pedestrian Cases
Arizona's pedestrian right of way rules, A.R.S. § 28-792 and A.R.S. § 28-793, govern crosswalks and roadway crossings, and insurers in highway cases often argue the pedestrian bears most or all of the blame before any investigation has concluded. That argument does not end a claim in this state. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, Arizona uses pure comparative fault, which means fault is divided by percentage and damages are reduced by that percentage rather than cut off. A family found to carry a large share of responsibility can still recover the remainder. Because of this, an early insurer statement that the claim is worthless should be treated as a position, not a ruling. Fault percentages are decided by a jury, or negotiated in light of what a jury would likely do, after the evidence is gathered.
Commercial Vehicle Evidence Has a Short Shelf Life
A commercial vehicle carries records a passenger car does not: engine control module data, electronic logging device records, hours of service entries, dispatch and route records, maintenance and inspection files, and in many cases onboard or dash camera footage. Much of that material is held by the motor carrier, and retention periods under federal rules are measured in months. Some systems overwrite footage in days. A written preservation letter sent to the carrier and its insurer, demanding that this material be retained, is one of the few things a family can do in the first week that changes the outcome later. Also request the DPS report once it is available, and keep every document that arrives from any insurer without responding to recorded statement requests first. A family does not need to have decided on litigation to send a preservation letter.
Deadlines That Control Whether a Claim Exists
The general deadline for a personal injury or wrongful death claim in Arizona is two years under A.R.S. § 12-542. For a wrongful death claim, that period generally runs from the date of death. If any public entity or public employee turns out to be a potential defendant, a far shorter rule applies: A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim served within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and missing it bars the claim against that entity no matter how strong it is. Because a highway crash can involve roadway design, maintenance contractors, or public employees, that 180-day clock should be assumed to be running until someone has confirmed it is not. Opening a probate estate is also necessary before a personal representative can bring a survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110.
Families with questions about a fatal highway pedestrian crash can read more on our Arizona pedestrian accident practice page.