12 News reported that one person died and another was hospitalized after a crash in Scottsdale. According to that report, police said alcohol consumption and speed are considered factors in the crash. No one has been charged or convicted of anything based on what has been reported, and the investigation is described as ongoing.
In Arizona, when someone dies in a collision where investigators are looking at alcohol and speed as possible factors, two separate claims can arise from the same event. A wrongful death action under A.R.S. § 12-611 to A.R.S. § 12-613 belongs to the surviving spouse, children, parents, or the personal representative of the estate, and it compensates those survivors for their own losses, including lost financial support, lost companionship, and grief. A survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 is brought by the estate for what the person who died endured before death, such as medical charges incurred and lost earnings. Both are civil matters, and neither depends on whether a criminal charge under A.R.S. § 28-1381 is filed or proven. A criminal case answers to the state; a civil case answers to the family. The deadline for most of these claims is two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, and evidence tends to disappear long before that.
What a police statement about alcohol and speed does, and does not, settle
An early police statement that alcohol and speed are considered factors is a description of what investigators are examining. It is not a finding of liability, and it is not a conviction. Impaired driving is prosecuted under A.R.S. § 28-1381, and the state has to prove that case beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil claim is decided by a much lower standard, the preponderance of the evidence, which is why families sometimes recover compensation even when a criminal charge is never filed or does not result in a conviction.
The practical consequence is that a family should not wait for the criminal process to finish. Toxicology results, download data from vehicle control modules, dash and surveillance video, and the memories of witnesses all have short shelf lives. A written request for the crash report and for preservation of any involved vehicles should go out early, before a vehicle is released, repaired, or sold for salvage. If a vehicle is being held as evidence, that is often the best chance to have it inspected.
Comparative fault, and why the surviving injured person still has a claim
Arizona uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. A person's recovery is reduced by their own percentage of responsibility, but it is not eliminated, even if their share is large. That matters for two reasons. First, an insurance company may argue that the person who died or the person who was hospitalized contributed in some way, and that argument reduces the claim rather than ending it. Second, more than one party can share fault, so responsibility may be divided among drivers or other contributors.
A hospitalized passenger or occupant has an independent claim and should not assume that a single insurance policy will cover everything. Where liability coverage is exhausted or insufficient, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on any policy in the household may apply, and those policies frequently carry their own notice requirements. Request the declarations pages for every applicable policy before giving any recorded statement.
First steps for the family, and the deadlines that control
A wrongful death claim under A.R.S. § 12-611 to A.R.S. § 12-613 has to be brought by a statutory beneficiary or by the personal representative of the estate, so one early step is opening a probate estate and getting a personal representative appointed. Without that appointment, no one has authority to pursue the survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 or to sign a settlement on the estate's behalf.
Keep every medical bill, funeral invoice, and pay record; those documents support the economic portion of the claim. Decline to give a recorded statement to another driver's insurer until you have advice. Two deadlines matter most. The general limitations period is two years under A.R.S. § 12-542. Separately, if any claim might run against a public entity or a public employee, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and missing that notice bars the claim regardless of the two-year period.
If your family is dealing with a fatal collision in this area, our Scottsdale wrongful death attorneys can explain what the next steps look like in your situation.