Arizona Car Accident Laws

Arizona combines two genuinely claimant-friendly features: a fault rule with no cutoff at all, and a state constitution that specifically prohibits capping accident recovery.

Arizona's constitution doesn't just fail to cap damages — it actively forbids the legislature from doing so.

Statute of limitations: 2 years

Under A.R.S. §12-542, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury or property damage lawsuit. Claims against a government entity are much shorter: a notice of claim within 180 days, and the lawsuit itself within one year (A.R.S. §12-821).

Fault rule: pure comparative negligence — no bar

Under A.R.S. §12-2505, Arizona uses pure comparative negligence: your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, but there is no cutoff. Even if you're found 90% at fault, you can still recover the remaining 10%.

Insurance: at-fault system, 25/50/15 minimum

Arizona is an at-fault state, not a no-fault state. Minimum liability limits are 25/50/15: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $15,000 for property damage. Notably, the Arizona Constitution (Article 2, §31) prohibits the legislature from capping damages in personal injury cases — a genuinely distinctive protection.

How this plays out in a real claim

Take a rear-end collision where the trailing driver was following too closely, but the lead driver's brake lights weren't working. An insurer might assign 70% fault to the trailing driver and 30% to the lead driver. Because Arizona follows pure comparative negligence, the lead driver's compensation is reduced by their 30% share — not eliminated by it, and not eliminated even if their share were 90%. This is also why insurers in Arizona tend to focus heavily on negotiating your fault percentage upward, rather than trying to push you past a bar that doesn't exist here.

A mistake worth avoiding in Arizona

Because Arizona's rule has no bar at all, some people assume a high fault percentage means there's no point pursuing a claim. That's rarely true here — even a driver found 80% or 90% at fault can still recover their remaining share, so it's worth having the claim properly valued rather than assuming a disputed-fault situation isn't worth pursuing.

If a government vehicle or agency was involved

Before suing Arizona or a local government agency, you must file a written notice of claim within 180 days of the accident — a much shorter window than the state's general personal injury deadline. Missing this notice period is generally fatal to the claim regardless of how strong the underlying case is, so identifying early whether a government vehicle or agency was involved matters a great deal here.

If the crash resulted in a death

Arizona's wrongful death deadline is two years from the date of death (A.R.S. §12-542(2)), and only a surviving spouse, child, parent, guardian, or the estate's personal representative may bring the claim (A.R.S. §12-612) — siblings have no standing unless appointed personal representative with no closer relatives surviving. Arizona places no cap on wrongful death damages.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

Arizona doesn't require UM/UIM coverage, but insurers must offer it with every policy, and you have to reject it in writing (A.R.S. §20-259.01) — without a signed rejection on file, courts generally apply UM/UIM at limits matching your liability coverage. A 2023 Arizona Supreme Court ruling confirmed that UM/UIM from separate household policies (for example, a spouse's own car policy) can be combined, though an insurer can require you to pick just one applicable policy if you personally hold multiple policies covering the same vehicle or accident.

Beyond the deadline and the fault rule

The statute of limitations and the fault rule above decide whether you have a claim and how much of it survives — they don't decide what the claim is actually worth, or whether it's worth handling yourself. For that, see our guides on what affects a settlement, who pays your medical bills while a claim is pending, and whether Arizona law makes a lawyer worth it for your specific situation.

When it's worth talking to someone

With no fault cutoff and no damage caps, disputes in Arizona tend to focus on the exact fault percentage assigned, since it directly scales what you recover. If fault is contested, a free, no-obligation conversation can help.