Car Accident Laws in Arizona: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Arizona is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state. There is no state-mandated PIP coverage — the driver who caused the crash (or their insurer) is financially responsible for the other side's injuries and property damage, and you can sue the at-fault driver directly. The clock to sue for a car-accident injury in Arizona is generally two years from the date of the crash (A.R.S. § 12-542), and the same two-year deadline applies to property-damage claims. If a government-owned vehicle (city, county, state, or a public employee on the job) was involved, that deadline is much shorter — see the government-claims section below before you assume you have two years.

Is Arizona a No-Fault or At-Fault State?

Arizona is a traditional fault-based (tort) auto insurance state. Unlike no-fault states, where you first turn to your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) policy regardless of who caused the wreck, Arizona does not require PIP at all. After a crash, an injured person's options are to file a claim with the at-fault driver's liability insurer, use their own coverage (such as med-pay or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, if purchased), or file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Fault — and who pays — is determined by ordinary negligence law, not a no-fault formula.

Minimum Auto Insurance Required in Arizona

Under Arizona's financial-responsibility law, A.R.S. § 28-4009, every driver must carry liability insurance of at least:

• $25,000 bodily injury or death, per person
• $50,000 bodily injury or death, per accident (two or more people)
• $15,000 property damage, per accident

This is commonly shorthanded as "25/50/15" coverage. These are legal minimums, not a suggestion of what's adequate — a serious injury crash can easily exceed them, which is one reason many drivers buy higher limits.

Arizona does not require Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or medical-payments coverage; insurers may offer med-pay, but it isn't mandatory. Uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage also are not automatically mandatory, but under A.R.S. § 20-259.01 every insurer must offer UM and UIM coverage in writing, and if you don't want it you (or your agent) must reject it in writing — otherwise it's typically bundled in. Given how many Arizona drivers carry only the state minimum (or drive uninsured), UM/UIM coverage is worth understanding before you decline it. Confirm current requirements and any pending changes with the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) or the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division, since minimums can be revised by the legislature.

How Long Do You Have to Sue After a Car Accident in Arizona?

Arizona's statute of limitations for injury claims arising from a crash is two years from the date of the accident, under A.R.S. § 12-542. That same statute also governs claims for damage to property (including your vehicle), so property-damage lawsuits generally carry the same two-year window. Miss it, and a court will almost certainly dismiss the case regardless of how strong the underlying claim is.

A few situations can change the calculation:

• Minors: under A.R.S. § 12-502, the two-year period is generally paused (tolled) until the injured person turns 18, giving them until roughly their 20th birthday to sue.
• Delayed discovery: if an injury or its cause reasonably couldn't have been discovered right away, the clock may start when it was (or should have been) discovered rather than the crash date — this is a narrow exception, not a general grace period.
• Government vehicles: a much shorter notice deadline applies — see below.

Because these exceptions are fact-specific and the law can change, confirm current deadlines against the official Arizona Revised Statutes (azleg.gov) or with the Arizona courts rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Shared Fault: Arizona's Pure Comparative Negligence Rule

Arizona follows pure comparative negligence under A.R.S. § 12-2505. That means you can still recover damages even if you were partly — or mostly — at fault for the crash. Your compensation is simply reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if a jury finds you 30% at fault and your damages are $100,000, you could still recover $70,000. Unlike states with a 50% or 51% "modified" comparative fault bar, Arizona has no cutoff: in theory even someone found 99% at fault can recover the remaining 1% of their damages. (There's a narrow exception if you intentionally, willfully, or wantonly caused the injury.) Because insurers routinely dispute fault percentages, don't assume you have no claim just because you think you share some blame.

When You Must Report a Crash in Arizona

Under A.R.S. § 28-667, a law enforcement officer who investigates a crash must complete a written report whenever the collision involves bodily injury, death, property damage exceeding $2,000, or a citation. Separately, A.R.S. § 28-663 requires drivers involved in any crash to stop and exchange information (name, address, vehicle registration, insurance) with the other driver at the scene, and to render reasonable aid if anyone is hurt — this duty applies regardless of the dollar amount of damage.

If police don't respond to the scene — common for minor, no-injury crashes — Arizona doesn't require you to separately file a report with the Motor Vehicle Division, but the Arizona Department of Public Safety offers a "Citizen's Collision Report" you can complete online so there's an official record and report number, which insurers may want. If your crash involved injury, death, significant damage, or a driver who fled, involve police at the scene or as soon afterward as possible — don't rely solely on a self-filed citizen report. Confirm current thresholds and procedures with the Arizona Department of Transportation (azdot.gov) or the Department of Public Safety (azdps.gov), since reporting rules and dollar thresholds can be updated.

Damage Caps and Claims Against a Government Vehicle

Arizona's Constitution (Article 2, Section 31) prohibits any law that caps the amount of damages recoverable for causing death or injury to a person. In practice, that means Arizona does not impose a statutory cap on economic or non-economic (pain and suffering) damages in an ordinary car-accident injury case, unlike many states that cap non-economic damages by statute.

Claims against a government vehicle or government employee are the major exception to the two-year deadline discussed above. Under Arizona's Tort Claims Act:

• A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires you to file a written notice of claim with the responsible public entity or employee within 180 days of the crash — far shorter than the general two-year window. Miss this notice deadline and your claim is generally barred entirely, even if you're still within two years of the crash.
• A.R.S. § 12-821 then sets an overall one-year statute of limitations to actually file a lawsuit against a public entity or public employee.

If a city bus, county vehicle, state trooper, school district vehicle, or other government-owned car was involved in your crash, treat the 180-day notice deadline as the number that matters — not the standard two years — and act quickly.

What to Do After a Crash in Arizona

1. Stop and check for injuries. Arizona law requires you to stop at the scene and call 911 if anyone is hurt or killed, or if damage looks significant.
2. Exchange information with the other driver(s) — name, address, license number, license plate, and insurance information, as required by A.R.S. § 28-663.
3. Get an official report on file. If police respond, get the report number. If they don't and the crash is minor, consider filing an Arizona DPS Citizen's Collision Report.
4. Document the scene — photos of vehicle damage, license plates, road conditions, traffic signs/signals, and any visible injuries — and get names and contact information for witnesses.
5. Get medical attention even if you feel "okay," and keep all records; some injuries (especially soft-tissue and head injuries) don't show symptoms immediately, which matters both for your health and for the discovery-rule exception noted above.
6. Notify your own insurer promptly, even if the other driver was clearly at fault, and be factual — avoid speculating about fault or injuries in early statements.
7. Ask early if a government vehicle was involved. If so, the 180-day notice-of-claim deadline is running now, not in two years.
8. Keep a running file of medical bills, repair estimates, lost wages, and correspondence with insurers so nothing gets lost before any deadline.

This article is general information about Arizona law, not legal advice for your specific situation.