12 News reported that a wrong-way crash on State Route 86 in southern Arizona killed three people. According to the Department of Public Safety, the suspected impaired driver was among those who died. No one has been charged with or convicted of anything, and the investigation is the agency's to complete.
When a driver suspected of impairment dies in the same wrong-way collision that kills other people, Arizona law still allows the surviving families to bring a claim. A wrongful death action under A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613 is brought by the surviving spouse, parent, or child of the person who died, or by the personal representative of the estate, and it belongs to the survivors rather than to the estate of the deceased. Claims that the person who died could have brought for their own losses before death survive under A.R.S. § 14-3110. The death of an at-fault driver does not end the case; the claim proceeds against that driver's estate, which lets the liability insurer defend and pay up to policy limits. Because minimum policy limits are often far below the value of multiple deaths, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on the victims' own policies frequently becomes the main source of recovery. The deadline is generally two years under A.R.S. § 12-542.
Suing an Estate Is a Normal Procedure, Not a Dead End
Families often assume that if the driver who caused a crash also died, there is no one left to hold responsible. That is not how it works. A claim is filed against the estate of the deceased driver, and the liability insurer that issued that driver's policy has a contractual duty to defend the estate and to pay a judgment or settlement up to the limits it sold. If no estate has been opened, a probate proceeding can be started so there is a personal representative to serve.
A criminal DUI case under A.R.S. § 28-1381 is separate from any civil claim, and a criminal case cannot proceed against someone who has died. The absence of a criminal case does not prevent or weaken a civil claim. Civil liability is decided on a lower standard of proof and is about compensation, not punishment.
Find Every Policy Before You Talk to Any Adjuster
In a crash with three deaths, the at-fault policy is usually exhausted quickly and divided among claimants. Coverage worth locating right away includes:
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on the policy of each person who died, and on policies of relatives in the same household, which can often stack
- Medical payments coverage, which pays regardless of fault
- Any commercial or employer policy, if a vehicle was being used for work
- Health insurance, which will typically assert a lien against any recovery
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer, including your own, before you understand what coverage exists. If a government entity or public employee ever becomes a defendant in a road case, a written notice of claim must be served within 180 days under A.R.S. § 12-821.01, which is far shorter than the general two-year deadline in A.R.S. § 12-542.
Steps That Matter in the First Weeks
Request the DPS report number and follow up until the completed report is released; these investigations can take weeks or longer. Keep funeral and burial invoices, medical bills, and pay records, because those are recoverable categories of loss. Preserve the vehicles if you have any control over them, since event data recorders and physical evidence can be lost once a vehicle is sold for salvage. Write down the names of anyone who called you about what happened before memories fade.
Be aware that Arizona uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505, which means an insurer may try to assign a share of blame to a person who died in order to reduce what it pays. That argument is answerable, but it is easier to answer with physical evidence and a completed report than with recollection alone.
If your family lost someone in a highway collision, our Arizona car accident attorneys can explain what coverage is available and what deadlines apply to your situation.