12 News reported that the Arizona Department of Public Safety says a wrong-way driver told police he was playing a new game. According to that report, the driver was arrested and faces endangerment and reckless driving charges. Charges are accusations, not findings; no one has been convicted of anything, and the investigation belongs to law enforcement, not to any private party.
When a driver is arrested and charged with endangerment or reckless driving, the criminal case and any civil injury claim move separately in Arizona. The state prosecutes; it does not recover money for the people who were hurt. A person injured by another driver's conduct brings a private civil claim, and that claim can proceed whether the criminal charges end in conviction, plea, dismissal, or acquittal. The burden of proof is lower in civil court, so a driver who is never convicted can still be held financially responsible for medical bills, lost income, vehicle damage, and pain. Most Arizona injury lawsuits must be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, and that clock runs regardless of how long the criminal case takes. Waiting for a verdict before speaking to a lawyer is one of the most common ways people lose a claim they would otherwise have won. Evidence also disappears; dashcam footage and witness memories fade quickly.
A Criminal Charge Does Not Pay Your Medical Bills
Endangerment and reckless driving are criminal charges brought by the state. If the state wins, the result is a sentence, probation, fines paid to the court, and possibly restitution. Restitution is real money, but it is typically limited to documented out-of-pocket economic loss and is collected on the defendant's schedule, sometimes over years. It does not compensate you for pain, permanent impairment, or the future care a serious injury requires.
A civil claim is the mechanism that does. In a civil case you pursue the at-fault driver's liability insurance, and where that is not enough, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Check your policy declarations page for UM and UIM limits before you assume there is no money available; in Arizona those coverages are frequently the largest source of recovery after a crash involving a driver with minimum limits.
If someone died, the claim changes form. Arizona's wrongful death statutes, A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613, define who may bring the action and what the surviving spouse, children, or parents may recover. A separate survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 preserves claims that belonged to the person who died. These are different claims with different beneficiaries, and they are often filed together.
Deadlines and Shared Fault Under Arizona Law
Two years is the general deadline for personal injury and wrongful death suits under A.R.S. § 12-542. There is one trap that catches people constantly: if a government entity or a government employee is involved in any way, you must serve a written notice of claim within 180 days of when the claim accrues under A.R.S. § 12-821.01, and missing that window bars the claim entirely no matter how strong it is. If you are unsure whether a public entity has any role, treat the 180-day clock as running.
Arizona applies pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. Your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault, but it is not eliminated even if you are found mostly at fault. Insurers know this and will look for any reason to assign you a share, including speed, lane position, or delayed braking. That is a reason to be careful about recorded statements, not a reason to give up on a claim.
Practical Steps If You Were Hurt
Get evaluated medically even if you feel able to walk away. Adrenaline masks injury, and a gap between the incident and your first treatment is the argument every adjuster makes against causation.
Request the crash report and any incident number from the investigating agency, and keep it. Photograph your vehicle before it is repaired or totaled, and photograph visible injuries as they change over the following days. Write down what you remember while it is fresh, including what you saw, what you heard, and who else stopped.
Preserve electronic evidence early. Dashcam files overwrite themselves, phone video gets deleted in cleanups, and nearby businesses routinely purge exterior camera footage within days or weeks. A written preservation request sent quickly is often the difference between having the footage and arguing about what happened.
Report the incident to your own insurer promptly, because most policies require it, but decline to give a recorded statement to the other driver's carrier until you have advice. You are not obligated to provide one, and early statements taken while you are medicated or in pain are used later to limit what you recover.
If you or a family member was injured by a wrong-way or reckless driver, our Arizona car accident attorneys can explain what your claim is worth and what deadlines apply to it.