KTAR News published a home maintenance piece headlined "What's beneath your feet? A crash course in carpet", which describes considerations that come with carpet as a material, including maintenance, durability, installation, and wrinkles. The word "crash" in that headline is figurative. No collision, no injury, and no roadway incident is reported in that item, and this post does not describe one. What follows is general Arizona law for people who arrive here looking for help after an actual car accident.
Arizona gives an injured person two years from the date of a car accident to file a personal injury lawsuit under A.R.S. § 12-542, and the same two-year window generally applies to wrongful death claims brought under A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613. That deadline shortens dramatically when a government entity or employee is involved; A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim served within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and a claim served late is barred no matter how serious the injury. Fault is divided under Arizona's pure comparative fault statute, A.R.S. § 12-2505, so a person found partly responsible still recovers damages reduced by that percentage rather than losing outright. Drivers involved in a collision have duties to stop and exchange information under A.R.S. § 28-661. Evidence disappears quickly, so photographs, the crash report number, and witness contact information matter far more than they seem in the first week.
Why We Do Not Build Posts Around Incidents That Were Not Reported
Firms sometimes attach a legal pitch to any news item containing the word "crash." We do not. Writing as though someone was hurt when no one was reported hurt misleads the people who need accurate information most, and it risks attaching strangers' names and details to events that did not occur.
If you reached this page because you were in a collision, the law set out above applies to you regardless of what any news outlet did or did not publish. Nothing in a news story starts or stops the deadlines in A.R.S. § 12-542 or A.R.S. § 12-821.01. Those clocks run from the date of the incident and from the date a claim accrues, not from the date anyone writes about it.
The Arizona Deadlines That Run Whether or Not You Have a Lawyer
Three dates control most Arizona car accident claims.
- Two years, A.R.S. § 12-542. This is the outside limit for filing suit on a personal injury claim. Settlement talks with an insurer do not extend it.
- 180 days, A.R.S. § 12-821.01. If a city, county, state agency, school district, or public employee may share responsibility, a written notice of claim must be served within 180 days. This includes collisions involving government vehicles and some claims about roadway conditions.
- Wrongful death and survival claims. A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613 govern who may bring a wrongful death action and what may be recovered; A.R.S. § 14-3110 governs claims that survive on behalf of the person who died.
If any part of a potential claim touches a public entity, treat the 180-day notice as the real deadline and work backward from it.
Practical Steps in the First Weeks After a Collision
Get medical attention and keep going to the follow-up appointments. Gaps in treatment are the single most common argument insurers use to discount an injury.
Request the crash report and write down the report number. Photograph vehicle damage, the scene, and visible injuries before they heal. Save the names and phone numbers of anyone who stopped.
Report the collision to your own insurer, including your medical payments and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, which can apply even when another driver is at fault. Before giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, understand that under A.R.S. § 12-2505 any percentage of fault assigned to you reduces your recovery, and early statements are routinely used to assign it. You are not required to speculate about speed, distance, or who did what.
Keep a simple written record of missed work, out-of-pocket costs, and daily limitations. Reconstructing that months later is far harder than noting it as it happens.
If you were injured in a collision anywhere in the Phoenix area, our Arizona car accident practice page explains how these claims are handled from the first call through resolution.