Phoenix Bike Accident Lawyer

Phoenix Bike Accident Lawyer

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In short: If you were hit while riding in Phoenix, Arizona traffic law — not Nevada law — controls the claim. Cyclists have the rights and duties of drivers (A.R.S. § 28-812), may leave the far-right position when a lane is too narrow to share or when turning or avoiding hazards (A.R.S. § 28-815), and motorists must leave not less than three feet when passing (A.R.S. § 28-735). Serving Phoenix from our Tempe office — 222 S Mill Ave Ste 800, Tempe, AZ 85281. Call (725) 485-3301 or request a callback. There is no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.

Serving Phoenix from our Tempe office

The Ruiz Law Firm does not have a Phoenix office and does not list a Phoenix Google Business Profile. Bicycle injury consultations for Phoenix riders are handled from Tempe:

222 S Mill Ave Ste 800, Tempe, AZ 85281

Attorney Lawrence Ruiz is admitted in Arizona. Confirm current status in the State Bar of Arizona member directory. This page does not publish an Arizona bar number. The public intake line is (725) 485-3301. Tempe office hours are not listed here.

Arizona pages stay on this Arizona hub. Call or use the callback form only — this site does not invite text-message intake.

Arizona law for people on bicycles

A crash between a car and a bike is still a vehicle crash under Title 28. The starting rule is A.R.S. § 28-812:

A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway or on a shoulder adjoining a roadway is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title, except special rules in this article and except provisions of this chapter and chapters 4 and 5 of this title that by their nature can have no application.

That is why “the cyclist came out of nowhere” is not a legal theory. A rider on a Phoenix street or adjoining shoulder is traffic.

Where the rider may sit in the lane is A.R.S. § 28-815:

A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations:

1. If overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. If preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
3. If reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals or surface hazards.
4. If the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

Insurers often treat “as close as practicable” as “in the gutter.” The statute itself lists passing, left turns, hazards (including parked cars), and a lane too narrow to share.

Passing distance is A.R.S. § 28-735:

A. When overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction, a person driving a motor vehicle shall exercise due care by leaving a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet until the motor vehicle is safely past the overtaken bicycle.

Subsection B adds civil penalties if a violation results in a collision: up to $500 when the collision causes serious physical injury, and up to $1,000 when it causes death. Subsection C says subsection B does not apply to a bicyclist injured in a vehicular traffic lane when a designated bicycle lane or path is present and passable. That is the statutory text. It is not a rule that a rider in a travel lane always loses a civil claim, and it is not a rule that a marked lane always defeats a three-foot case. The facts of the street, the markings, and whether a bike lane was present and passable still have to be proved.

Phoenix crash numbers — and what ADOT does not publish by city

ADOT’s Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Facts jurisdiction table for Phoenix in 2024 reports 37,472 crashes, 265 fatal crashes, 278 people killed, and 15,057 injured. That table has no bicycle column. This page does not invent a Phoenix bicycle death count.

Bicycle volume is published statewide and for Maricopa County in the same report:

• Statewide 2024: 1,379 bicycle crashes and 44 bicyclists killed. The peak hour for bicycle crashes is 3 p.m.–4 p.m.
• Maricopa County 2024: 991 bicycle crashes, 27 killed, and 973 injured. Maricopa and Pima together accounted for 82.02% of statewide bicycle crashes.

Sources: ADOT Crash Facts and the 2024 Crash Facts PDF hosted by Phoenix Streets.

Those county and statewide figures are the honest way to talk about bicycle harm in the Valley until ADOT publishes a Phoenix-only bicycle split.

Phoenix streets: HIN corridors and Indian School HAWKs

Phoenix’s 2018–2022 high-injury network (KSI) — from the city’s official road-safety GIS — includes Indian School, Camelback, McDowell, 51st Ave, 67th Ave, and Peoria. That list is a city safety network, not a Ruiz crash sample and not a substitute for a missing Phoenix bicycle column. Map service: Phoenix STR_RoadSafety_2024 MapServer.

The city’s 2024 Road Safety Action Plan annual report records HAWK beacons on Indian School Road between 24th–32nd and 36th–44th Streets as pedestrian and bicycle crossing treatments. A HAWK does not prove who had the right-of-way in a later crash; it is evidence of how Phoenix has treated those Indian School segments.

Nearby Tempe context only — not a Phoenix corridor, and not this page’s lead: Tempe’s SS4A work includes buffered bike lanes on Baseline Road from Priest to Loop 101. Baseline in Tempe is a different city’s project.

Claims after a Phoenix bike crash still turn on the usual record: the police report, scene and bike photographs, available traffic or business video, witness names, and medical records. Preserve the bicycle unrepaired. Do not assume a marked bike lane ends the three-foot analysis, and do not assume riding outside a lane ends the claim.

Comparative fault and the two-year clock

Arizona is a pure comparative-fault state. A.R.S. § 12-2505:

A. The defense of contributory negligence or of assumption of risk is in all cases a question of fact and shall at all times be left to the jury. If the jury applies either defense, 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 which is a proximate cause of the injury or death, if any. There is no right to comparative negligence in favor of any claimant who has intentionally, wilfully or wantonly caused or contributed to the injury or wrongful death.

A Phoenix rider can still have a claim if the jury assigns the rider some share of fault; the award is reduced by that share. Intentional, wilful, or wanton conduct is the statutory bar, not a 51% cutoff.

The ordinary injury deadline is two years. A.R.S. § 12-542:

Except as provided in section 12-551 there shall be commenced and prosecuted within two years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, the following actions:

1. For injuries done to the person of another including causes of action for medical malpractice as defined in section 12-561.
2. For injuries done to the person of another when death ensues from such injuries, which action shall be considered as accruing at the death of the party injured.

If a city, county, or state vehicle or a public roadway is in the fact pattern, calendar A.R.S. § 12-821.01 (notice of claim within 180 days) and A.R.S. § 12-821 (suit within one year). Those statutes are a deadline warning, not a conclusion that your crash is a government claim.

Trauma hospitals in Phoenix

Serious bicycle injuries are often taken to a designated trauma center. Arizona Department of Health Services lists these Phoenix Level I campuses (pediatric Level I at Phoenix Children’s). The firm has no hospital affiliation:

• Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix — Level I, 1111 E McDowell Rd
• St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center — Level I, 350 W Thomas Rd
• Valleywise Health Medical Center — Level I, 2601 E Roosevelt St
• Phoenix Children’s Hospital — Level I pediatric, 1919 E Thomas Rd

Source: Arizona designated trauma centers PDF.

Maricopa County Superior Court

A Phoenix bicycle injury suit seeking $10,000 or more belongs in Maricopa County Superior Court, not Justice Court (civil lawsuit guide). Civil hearings are at the downtown Phoenix location, 201 W Jefferson St, even if forms are dropped at another counter (CVC1; Clerk Central Court Complex). Cover type 101 is Non-Death/Personal Injury under TORT MOTOR VEHICLE.

Tempe is where we meet you. Downtown Phoenix is where Maricopa civil injury trials are heard.

After a Phoenix bicycle crash

1. Call 911 and get the crash documented.
2. Get medical care. Head and internal injuries are not always obvious at the scene.
3. Photograph the street, signals, your bike, the other vehicle if it is still there, and visible injuries.
4. Keep the bicycle and gear unrepaired.
5. Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer before you speak with a lawyer.
6. Call (725) 485-3301 or use the callback form on this page.

A claim can seek medical bills, future care, lost income, pain and suffering, and bicycle and gear damage when the facts and coverage support those categories. We do not quote Arizona verdicts or review counts on this page.

If you also need the Nevada bicycle page for a Clark County crash, use the Las Vegas bicycle accident lawyer page. Nevada’s modified comparative rule with a 51% bar does not govern a Phoenix crash; Arizona’s pure comparative statute does. Start with the Arizona hub for the Tempe office and the other Arizona injury pages.

To talk with a Phoenix bike accident lawyer serving from Tempe, call (725) 485-3301 or request a callback.