Phoenix Rideshare Accident Lawyer

In short: Hurt in an Uber or Lyft crash in Phoenix? The Ruiz Law Firm reviews Arizona transportation-network coverage and trip status while serving Phoenix from our Tempe office. Free consult in English or Spanish. No attorney fee unless we recover money for you. Call (725) 485-3301 or request a free consultation.

Serving Phoenix from our Tempe office — 222 S Mill Ave Ste 800, Tempe, AZ 85281. The Ruiz Law Firm does not have a Phoenix office. Lawrence Ruiz is admitted to practice in Arizona; confirm current status in the State Bar of Arizona member directory. An Arizona bar number is not published on this page.

Uber, Lyft, and other transportation-network company (TNC) trips are booked through an app. Arizona law sets period-based insurance minimums and forbids street hails. The questions are what the driver was doing in the app, who was in the vehicle, and which policy is primary. This page explains those Arizona rules. It is not a Nevada coverage chart.

Arizona TNC coverage is period-based

A.R.S. § 28-4038 is the statute to start with. Keep the periods distinct. Do not collapse the rule to “Uber has $1 million coverage.”

Logged in, not providing transportation network services. While the driver is logged in to the TNC digital network or software application to be a driver, but is not in the act of providing transportation network services, Arizona requires primary motor vehicle liability insurance in these amounts:

…during the time in which the transportation network company driver is logged in to the transportation network company's digital network or software application to be a driver, but is not in the act of providing transportation network services, the transportation network company driver or the transportation network company, or both, shall provide primary motor vehicle liability insurance coverage in the amount of $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, subject to the limit for one person, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident and $20,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.

Providing transportation network services. When the driver is providing TNS, § 28-4038(B)(1) requires primary commercial motor vehicle liability insurance:

Primary commercial motor vehicle liability insurance that covers the transportation network company driver's provision of transportation network services in a minimum amount of $250,000 per incident, except that the minimum amount shall be $1,000,000 per incident when a passenger to whom the transportation network company driver is providing transportation network services is occupying the transportation network company vehicle.

Uninsured motorist coverage. Section 28-4038(B)(2) requires primary commercial uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $75,000 per incident, or the A.R.S. § 28-4009 bodily-injury minimums, whichever is greater.

Personal auto policies. Section 28-4038(C) says that unless a policy expressly covers TNC use, the driver’s personal auto policy is not required to cover logged-in or TNS periods.

The statute sets minimums. It does not promise that Uber, Lyft, or any insurer will pay a particular claim. ADOT administers the TNC program, including HB 2729 effective September 14, 2024. See ADOT’s transportation network companies page.

App-only booking, not street hails

A.R.S. § 28-9556 requires app-only booking:

A transportation network company driver shall accept rides booked and paid for exclusively through a transportation network company's digital network or software application. The department may impose a civil penalty of not more than one thousand five hundred dollars per violation against any transportation network company driver who is found to be soliciting or accepting street hails.

If a crash followed a curb pickup that was not booked in the app, that fact can affect how the trip and insurance period are documented. Save the receipt, driver name, vehicle, route, messages, and pins.

Phoenix pickup and drop-off geography

Name these places as pickup and drop-off geography, not as a table of Uber crash counts. ADOT has no city Uber/Lyft crash table.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the airport-area freeways — I-10, SR 143, and Loop 202 — are dense rideshare staging and routing areas. Downtown Phoenix, Central Avenue, and Van Buren see event, hotel, and office pickups. I-10, I-17, Loop 202, and SR 51 are corridors many app trips use between the airport and downtown.

Phoenix publishes a High Injury Network map that includes Peoria, Indian School, and Camelback. Treat that map as general roadway-safety context, not as Uber or Lyft crash counts. Source: Phoenix STR_RoadSafety_2024 MapServer.

ADOT’s 2024 Crash Facts jurisdiction table reports 37,472 crashes in Phoenix, 265 fatal crashes, 278 people killed, and 15,057 injured. Those figures are all crashes, not TNC crashes. Sources: ADOT Crash Facts and the 2024 Crash Facts PDF.

Hospitals in Phoenix

Injured people in Phoenix are often taken to a Level I trauma center. The Arizona Department of Health Services designated-trauma-center list includes:

• Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix — Level I, 1111 E McDowell Rd. (Banner page)
• St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center — Level I, 350 W Thomas Rd. (Dignity Health page)
• Valleywise Health Medical Center — Level I, 2601 E Roosevelt St. (Valleywise trauma)

AZDHS list: designated trauma centers PDF. The Ruiz Law Firm has no hospital affiliation.

Arizona deadlines and comparative fault

A.R.S. § 12-542 is the two-year personal-injury and death-from-injury limitations statute:

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.

Ride receipts, app screenshots, and camera footage can disappear faster than two years.

Arizona comparative fault is 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.

That is Arizona law. Nevada modified comparative negligence does not decide an Arizona rideshare claim.

Public entities and Maricopa County Superior Court

If a city, county, state, or public employee may be involved — for example a government vehicle or a roadway-design claim — Arizona generally requires a notice of claim within 180 days under A.R.S. § 12-821.01 and a lawsuit within one year under A.R.S. § 12-821. Those shorter clocks are a caution, not a diagnosis of any reader’s case.

Civil injury suits of $10,000 or more (excluding interest, costs, and attorney fees) go to Maricopa County Superior Court. Hearings are downtown. The Central Court Building is 201 W Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ 85003 — the courthouse, not a Ruiz office. Sources: lawsuit guide, CVC1, Clerk complex. Cover type 101.

What to save after a Phoenix Uber or Lyft crash

1. Get medical care. Records connect the injury to the crash.
2. Call police when appropriate.
3. Save the ride details. Driver, vehicle, plate, route, pins, receipt, messages, and trip status.
4. Photograph the scene, including nearby cameras.
5. Do not rush a recorded statement. More than one insurer may call.
6. Apply Arizona TNC statutes to the facts, not Nevada rideshare rules.

Not sure which § 28-4038 period applies? Call (725) 485-3301 or request your free review. Hablamos español. No attorney fee unless we recover money for you.

Arizona hub and Nevada counterpart

For the Tempe office NAP and the rest of the Arizona slice, start at our Arizona personal injury lawyers hub.

Arizona transportation-network statutes govern this page. For the firm’s Nevada Uber and Lyft practice, see our Las Vegas Uber & Lyft accident attorney page.

Talk with a Phoenix rideshare accident lawyer

If you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft crash in Phoenix, call (725) 485-3301 or request a free consultation. We serve Phoenix from 222 S Mill Ave Ste 800, Tempe, AZ 85281. English and Spanish. No attorney fee unless we recover money for you.