How Tempe’s Roads Make Shared-Fault Crashes More Common

Why Local Layouts Lead to Legal Confusion

If you’ve driven around Tempe for any length of time, you know it’s a city filled with tight turns, fast-changing intersections, and a unique blend of college traffic, commuters, and out-of-state visitors. While these elements make Tempe vibrant, they also make it one of the most legally complicated cities in Arizona for determining fault after a crash.

In many car accident cases, the physical layout of the road itself contributes to the collision, which leads to one of the most frustrating outcomes for injury victims: shared fault. Under Arizona’s comparative negligence system, even a small percentage of assigned blame can significantly lower your settlement—and Tempe’s road designs often make these disputes inevitable.

Understanding how fault is interpreted—and how a Tempe car crash attorney can help push back—is key to protecting your rights after an accident.

Arizona’s Shared Fault Law Explained

Arizona follows a pure comparative negligence model, meaning multiple parties can be found partially at fault in a car crash. Compensation is awarded based on your percentage of responsibility.

• You’re awarded $90,000 in damages

• You're assigned 25% of the blame

• Your final payout is reduced to $67,500

This system is supposed to be fair, but in reality, it allows insurers to use even slightly ambiguous driving conditions against you—and Tempe gives them plenty to work with.

Where Tempe’s Infrastructure Creates Gray Areas

Certain parts of Tempe seem almost designed for confusion. Take a look at the local map, and you’ll see a collision of priorities—mass transit, urban development, campus traffic, and aging roadways. When crashes happen here, determining who had the “clear right of way” isn’t always straightforward.

Mill Avenue and University Drive
Heavy pedestrian traffic, unpredictable jaywalking, and tight turning lanes create a perfect storm of variables.

Apache Blvd and Rural Road
The proximity to ASU and the light rail adds fast-moving public transit into the mix, leading to side-swipe collisions and T-bone scenarios where both drivers think they had the green.

Broadway & McClintock
Left-turn signals are delayed or absent, and the intersections are often poorly lit at night.

Neighborhoods like Holdeman and Escalante
Smaller roads, hidden stop signs, and wide bike lanes can easily result in misunderstood right-of-way situations. These environments are prime for parking lot accidents, slow-speed impacts, and pedestrian confusion.

How Shared Fault Hurts Serious Injury Claims

In collisions involving spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, or even paralysis, the stakes are significantly higher. These are the kinds of claims that can result in six- or seven-figure settlements—and insurers know this.

That’s why in Tempe, they often lean on road ambiguity to justify partial fault arguments, reducing payouts and minimizing long-term compensation. All they need is a plausible argument, like:

• “The driver should have yielded even if the light was green.”

• “Visibility was compromised by street design.”

• “The intersection layout contributed to both drivers making errors.”

Without legal intervention, these claims can stick—and cost you tens of thousands.

Why Adjusters Love Crashes Near Tempe’s Campus and Light Rail

If your crash occurred anywhere near ASU, insurance companies know the road conditions often involve:

• Mixed pedestrian and vehicle traffic

• Unmarked or fading lane paint

• Complex interactions between buses, bikes, and cars

• Poor signage visibility at night

These variables allow them to argue shared blame, especially in rideshare collisions, hit-and-run incidents, or multi-vehicle pileups. Your settlement drops as soon as they pin even 10% fault on you.

What You Need to Protect Yourself

If you're driving in Tempe, you can't change the infrastructure—but you can protect yourself from being unfairly blamed for a collision caused by it. Here’s what that looks like:

• Document road conditions. Take pictures of intersection layout, traffic lights, obstructions, signage, and weather.

• Call police to the scene. A written report carries far more legal weight than a private exchange of information.

• Talk to witnesses. Ask pedestrians, other drivers, or nearby workers what they saw. These statements often contradict what insurers want to claim.

• Get medical attention early. For injuries like emotional trauma or whiplash, documentation from the start can stop insurance from minimizing your suffering.

• Speak to a lawyer. Before you talk to any insurer—yours or theirs—let someone who understands Arizona law and Tempe’s road issues guide the conversation.

Fault Is Complex—But Your Rights Don’t Have to Be

You don’t have to be a traffic engineer to understand that Tempe’s road system often sets drivers up for failure. But that doesn’t mean you should pay the price. Whether you were hit in Meyer Park, South Tempe, or navigating the chaos around the 60, don’t let blame fall unfairly on you just because the city’s layout worked against you.

Fault doesn’t just determine compensation. It determines your future. And when roads create confusion, you need someone who knows how to fight through it.

Talk to a Tempe accident lawyer today and take control before someone else tells your story for you.