The phone call we get most often starts the same way. Somebody’s on the side of the road, or in an ER bay, or sitting in their car in a Walgreens parking lot two days later, asking the same question. “What am I supposed to do now?”
This guide is the answer to that question. Not the version another firm writes to fill a page. The real answer, with the Arizona statutes, the deadlines, and the moves that decide whether you recover what you actually need.
The Arizona rule that changes everything: pure comparative fault
Most states say if you’re more than 50% responsible for a crash, you recover nothing. Arizona doesn’t work that way.
Under ARS §12-2505, Arizona is a pure comparative fault state. That means even if you’re 80% at fault for the crash, you can still recover 20% of your damages from the other driver. Even at 99% fault, technically you can recover 1%.
This matters more than people realize. The insurance company on the other side knows this rule too, and the entire claim is built around shifting fault percentages onto you. Every recorded statement you give, every “quick question” the adjuster asks, every Facebook post you make about the crash, is a tool for moving that fault number in their direction.
The first job of a serious Arizona car accident lawyer is not to file a lawsuit. It is to control the fault narrative before the other side locks it in.
The 2-year clock starts at the moment of impact
ARS §12-542 sets the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Arizona at two years from the date of the crash.
Two things people get wrong about this:
- The clock does not pause while you negotiate with the insurance company. We have seen people spend 22 months going back and forth with an adjuster, then file a lawsuit 24 months and one day later, and lose the entire claim. The insurance company will happily let that clock run out.
- The clock does not restart when you discover a new injury. If you were hurt in the crash and a related condition shows up 18 months later, the deadline is still measured from the crash date, not the diagnosis.
If a minor is the injured party, the clock generally does not start running until they turn 18 (ARS §12-502). If the at-fault party is a government entity (an Arizona state trooper, a city vehicle, a school bus), the deadline drops to 180 days to file a notice of claim under ARS §12-821.01. That deadline catches people every year.
What Arizona’s minimum insurance actually covers (it isn’t enough)
In 2020, Arizona raised its minimum auto liability limits. As of right now, every driver in Arizona must carry at minimum:
- $25,000 per person bodily injury
- $50,000 per accident bodily injury
- $15,000 property damage
A single ER visit and a CT scan in Mesa or Phoenix will burn through $25,000 before you walk out of the building. If you have surgery, the policy is gone in a day.
This is where uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) on your own policy becomes the difference between a real recovery and a token settlement. We tell every client to pull their declarations page in the first call. If you have stacked UM/UIM, your own insurer covers the gap above the at-fault driver’s policy. If you don’t, and the at-fault driver has only the state minimum, that’s the ceiling.
There are situations where the at-fault driver’s employer’s commercial policy applies, where a dram shop claim against a bar opens a second source, or where a defective vehicle component shifts liability to a manufacturer. These are the layers a car accident lawyer is looking for the moment the claim starts.
What happens in the first 72 hours
The first three days set the trajectory of the entire case.
Hour 1-3: at the scene. Call 911 even if you think the crash is minor. The police report is the spine of the claim later. Take photos of every vehicle from four angles, the license plates, the driver’s licenses, the insurance cards, and the scene from down the road in both directions. If anyone witnessed the crash, get their name and phone number before they leave.
Hours 4-24: medical. Go to the ER or an urgent care, not just a primary care visit two weeks later. Adrenaline masks soft-tissue injuries for 24-72 hours. Insurance companies use any gap in treatment as evidence you weren’t really hurt.
Days 1-3: who not to talk to. The other driver’s insurance adjuster will call within 48 hours. They will be friendly. They will ask if you can “give a quick recorded statement just to wrap this up.” You don’t have to do this. We tell clients not to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer without a lawyer on the line. Anything you say becomes a permanent part of the file and can be used to argue fault, downplay injuries, or trap you into inconsistent statements later.
You can and should report the crash to your own insurance company.
How damages work in Arizona car accident cases
Arizona car accident damages fall into three buckets.
Economic damages. Medical bills (past and future), lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage, out-of-pocket costs. These have receipts. Generally not capped in Arizona car accident cases.
Non-economic damages. Pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress. These don’t have receipts. Arizona has no cap on non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases (the Arizona Constitution, Article 2, Section 31, prohibits the legislature from capping damages in death or injury cases). This is a meaningful difference from states like Texas or California where caps suppress recoveries.
Punitive damages. Available only when the at-fault driver’s conduct was particularly egregious. DUI, street racing, deliberate ramming, or other intentional or reckless conduct. Punitive damages are not insured and come out of the defendant’s pocket, which changes how the defense approaches the case.
When to call a lawyer and when not to
You don’t need a lawyer for every fender-bender. If nobody was hurt, the property damage is straightforward, and the at-fault driver’s insurer is paying the repair without argument, you can handle that yourself.
You do need a lawyer the moment any of these are true:
- Anyone was treated at an ER or urgent care
- The other driver was uninsured or underinsured
- The other driver was working (commercial truck, rideshare, delivery)
- There’s any dispute about who was at fault
- The crash involved a government vehicle
- The adjuster is asking for a recorded statement
- A settlement offer comes in within the first 30 days
That last one is a trap we see weekly. Early offers come in low because the insurance company knows you haven’t finished treatment, haven’t documented lost income, and don’t know what the case is worth.
How Wood Injury Law handles Arizona car accident cases
We work on contingency. You don’t pay us anything unless we recover money for you, and our fee comes out of the recovery, not your pocket up front. Your medical providers don’t get paid until we settle, and we negotiate those bills down before you see a dime so the net to you is bigger.
Our process on every car accident case:
- Same-day intake. We talk to you the day you call. Not a paralegal screening, the actual lawyer who’ll work the file.
- Investigation pulled in the first week. Police report, scene photos, witness statements, vehicle damage assessment.
- Treatment coordination. We help you find the right doctors and document the injury chain so the insurance company can’t claim a pre-existing condition or a gap in care.
- Demand built around the full picture. Not just bills. Lost wages, future care, the impact on the people in your home. Demands go out only after you’ve reached maximum medical improvement so we know the real number.
- Litigation if they don’t pay. Most cases settle. The ones that don’t go to trial, and Arizona juries return real verdicts when the case is built right.
We handle the entire case so you can focus on getting better. That’s the job.
Call us before you call the other side’s adjuster
Arizona car accident cases are won and lost in the first two weeks. Most of what we fix during settlement is damage somebody else did in the first phone call with the adjuster.
If you’ve been in a crash anywhere in Arizona, call us at (480) 937-2116 or request a free case review on our Free Case Review page. There’s no cost to talk, no obligation to hire us, and the consultation is with a lawyer, not a screener.
Related reading from our blog:
- Rear-End Collision in Arizona: Who Actually Pays
- Hit-and-Run Accident in Arizona: The 3 Steps to Recover Damages
- Arizona’s Minimum Insurance Limits in 2026 (and Why They Won’t Cover You)
- Mesa Car Accident Attorney: Local Court, Comparative Fault, What to Expect
This article is general information about Arizona personal injury law and is not legal advice. Every case is different. To discuss your specific situation, contact Wood Injury Law for a free consultation.
