Filing a Car Accident Lawsuit in Arizona

If another driver hurt you on an Arizona road, the state gives you a fixed window to act and a specific set of rules that decide how much you can recover. Missing the window ends the case no matter how strong it is. Getting the fault rule wrong can cost you thousands. This page covers what Arizona law actually says, section by section, so you know the deadlines and the exceptions before you file.

Two years, and the exceptions that shorten it

Arizona sets a two-year deadline. A.R.S. § 12-542 says an action for personal injury, for injury resulting in death, or for damage to property "shall be commenced and prosecuted within two years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward."¹ The clock usually starts on the crash date, and a wrongful death claim runs on the same two-year track.

Two situations cut that time drastically. If a government vehicle or a public employee caused your crash (a city bus, a county truck), you first have to serve a written notice of claim within 180 days of the crash, or the claim is "barred and no action may be maintained thereon."² Even after that, any lawsuit against a public entity or public employee has to be filed within one year, not two.³ Those deadlines are easy to blow past while you focus on treatment.

How pure comparative fault splits the money

Arizona follows pure comparative negligence. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, if you were partly to blame, "the claimant's action is not barred, but the full damages shall be reduced in proportion to the relative degree of the claimant's fault."⁴ There is no cutoff. A driver found 70 percent at fault still collects 30 percent of the damages. The only carve-out is that the defense disappears where the claimant "intentionally, wilfully or wantonly" caused the harm.⁴ This matters because insurers routinely argue you share fault to shrink the payout. Arizona law caps how much that argument can take, but it never lets the other side zero you out on a negligence claim.

No caps on what you can recover

Some states put a ceiling on damages. Arizona's constitution forbids it. Article 2, Section 31 says "no law shall be enacted in this state limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the death or injury of any person."⁵ That covers medical bills, lost income, pain, and punitive damages alike. The single exception, added in 2010, protects a crime victim from being sued by someone injured while committing a felony.⁵

Punitive damages are available but hard to win. Arizona requires clear and convincing evidence that the at-fault driver acted with an "evil mind," the standard set in Linthicum v. Nationwide Life Insurance Co.⁶ A drunk driver who chose to get behind the wheel can meet it; ordinary carelessness will not. When they do apply, punitive damages are not capped either.⁵

The insurance that actually pays

Most crash claims are paid by an insurance policy, so Arizona's minimums shape what is realistically recoverable. For policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, A.R.S. § 28-4009 requires at least $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage, often written as 25/50/15.⁷ Older policies carried lower 15/30/10 limits, so the date of the at-fault policy can matter.⁷

Arizona is a pure at-fault state with no no-fault or PIP requirement, which means the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, is responsible for your losses. Two coverages fill the gaps when that driver has too little insurance or none. A.R.S. § 20-259.01 requires every auto insurer to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in writing, at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits, though you can reject either in writing on the policy declarations page.⁸ If you bought UM or UIM, it can be the source that pays when the other driver's 25/50 limits run out. Medical payments coverage is a separate optional add-on, and if your own insurer paid med-pay, its lien only reaches amounts paid over $5,000.⁸

Evidence Arizona law puts in your hands

Certain Arizona statutes create facts you can use to prove the other driver was negligent. Since January 1, 2021, A.R.S. § 28-914 (the Hands-Free law) bars holding or manually using a wireless device while driving, including to text, with civil penalties of $75 to $149 for a first violation and $150 to $250 for a later one.⁹ A citation under that statute is direct evidence of a traffic-law violation.

If a drunk driver hit you, Arizona lets you reach beyond that driver in narrow circumstances. Under A.R.S. § 4-311, a bar or store can be liable when it sold alcohol to an obviously intoxicated patron or to a minor, the person drank it, and that drinking was a proximate cause of the crash.¹⁰ That statute is now the only route. In Torres v. JAI Dining Services, decided October 16, 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court held that the legislature validly abolished the older common-law dram-shop claim, leaving only the statutory claim under § 4-311.¹¹ The statutory claim also carries its own, shorter deadline than the general two-year rule, so a liquor-liability claim can expire well before your claim against the driver.

The police crash report anchors most of this. Arizona has no single statewide seller. The Department of Public Safety sells its own reports through its Public Services Portal for $9 for an electronic copy, while many city and county agencies sell theirs elsewhere.¹² For how to pull the report for your specific crash, see our Arizona crash report guide.

Where the case gets filed

The size of your claim decides the courthouse. Arizona justice courts have civil jurisdiction only up to $10,000. A.R.S. § 22-201 gives them "exclusive original jurisdiction" when the amount involved is "ten thousand dollars or less."¹³ Anything larger belongs in superior court, which is where most injury cases with real medical bills land.

If your car lost market value because it now has an accident on its record, that is a separate claim from your injuries. Arizona handles it under the same two-year property-damage deadline in § 12-542.¹ We cover how to document and pursue it on our Arizona diminished value page.

None of these rules require a lawyer to file, but the notice-of-claim traps and the insurance layering are where cases are won or lost. If you want representation, you can compare options in our legal directory.

This is general information about Arizona law, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 12-542 (two-year limitation for injury and property damage). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00542.htm

2. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 (notice of claim against public entities, 180 days). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00821-01.htm

3. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 12-821 (one-year limit for actions against public entities). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00821.htm

4. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 12-2505 (comparative negligence). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/12/02505.htm

5. Arizona Constitution, Article 2, Section 31 (no law limiting damages for death or injury). https://www.azleg.gov/const/2/31.htm

6. Linthicum v. Nationwide Life Ins. Co., 150 Ariz. 326 (1986) ("evil mind" standard for punitive damages). https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/supreme-court/1986/86-0061-2.html

7. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 28-4009 (minimum liability limits; 25/50/15 for policies on or after July 1, 2020). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/28/04009.htm

8. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 20-259.01 (UM/UIM written offer; med-pay lien over $5,000). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/20/00259-01.htm

9. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 28-914 (Hands-Free law; handheld device ban and civil penalties). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/28/00914.htm

10. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 4-311 (dram-shop liability). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/4/00311.htm

11. Torres v. JAI Dining Services (Phoenix), Inc., No. CV-22-0142-PR (Ariz. Oct. 16, 2023) (common-law dram-shop claim abrogated). https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/supreme-court/2023/cv-22-0142-pr.html

12. Arizona Department of Public Safety, Public Services Portal / Records Request ($9 electronic crash report). https://www.azdps.gov/services/public-services-portal/records-request

13. Arizona State Legislature, A.R.S. § 22-201 (justice court civil jurisdiction up to $10,000). https://www.azleg.gov/ars/22/00201.htm