Fatal car crashes in Gilbert, AZ: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 70 fatal crashes inside Gilbert, in which 73 people died. The roads with the most were S Val Vista Dr with 6 fatal crashes, Guadalupe Rd with 5 and Higley Rd with 5.

Filing deadline, fault rule, insurance and the court for a crash in Gilbert: Gilbert, AZ injury guide.

Seventy fatal crashes, which killed 73 people, are coded to Gilbert in NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 2020 through 2024. FARS is the federal record of crashes on public roads in which someone died. NHTSA's Final Files are the source for 2020 to 2023; the 2024 counts come from its Annual Report File, the first release for that year, and they may change when the 2024 Final File is published.

Gilbert's count climbed over the period. There were 5 fatal crashes in 2020, 17 in 2021, 15 in 2022, 13 in 2023 and 20 in 2024, and deaths of 5, 17, 17, 13 and 21. That makes the 2024 total four times 2020's, although 2020 was by far the lowest year and the three years between ranged from 13 to 17 crashes. Deaths exceeded crashes only in 2022, by 2, and in 2024, by 1, so in each of those years at least one crash killed more than one person.

Maricopa County recorded 2,854 fatal crashes and 3,053 deaths in the same five years, and Arizona 5,558 crashes and 6,102 deaths. Gilbert's 73 deaths put it 11th among the Arizona places in our guides, with ten places above it. The five highest were Phoenix with 1,428 deaths, Tucson with 675, Mesa with 297, Glendale with 215 and Tempe with 127. FARS coded 69 of Gilbert's crashes as urban; for 1, the setting was unknown.

No road dominates Gilbert's table. S Val Vista Dr had the most fatal crashes, 6, with 6 deaths and the latest in 2024, but it leads by only one crash. Three roads had 5 each: Guadalupe Rd, where the crashes killed 6 people, matching S Val Vista Dr's deaths; Higley Rd, with 5 deaths; and Warner Rd, with 5 deaths and its latest crash in 2022. Baseline Rd, E Queen Creek Rd and Power Rd follow with 4 crashes and 4 deaths each; Power Rd's latest was in 2021.

Elliot Rd had 3 crashes that killed 5 people, the highest deaths per crash in the table, with the latest in 2022, and Gilbert Rd and State Route 202 had 3 crashes and 3 deaths each, both with a crash in 2024. Seven of the ten roads had a fatal crash as recently as 2024. The ten rows hold 42 of the 70 crashes and 45 of the 73 deaths, so 28 of Gilbert's fatal crashes were on roads outside the table, and the record is spread across many roads rather than concentrated on one.

Most of Gilbert's fatal crashes happened in daylight: 42 of the 70. Twenty-five happened after dark, 24 where there was lighting and 1 where there was none, and 1 each happened at dawn and at dusk; the light condition was not reported for 1. The afternoon had the most crashes, 30 between noon and 6 p.m., followed by 20 between 6 p.m. and midnight, 13 between 6 a.m. and noon and only 7 between midnight and 6 a.m.

Friday had 16 fatal crashes, more than any other day, with Wednesday at 13 and Thursday at 12; Monday had the fewest, 4. The weather was clear in 53 crashes and cloudy in 12, rain was recorded in 1, and in 4 the weather was not reported or reported as unknown. One crash was coded in a construction work zone, and 1 happened at a railway grade crossing. Thirty-four crashes involved two vehicles, 30 a single vehicle and 6 three or more.

Intersections are the clearest feature of the record. Thirty-three crashes were in an intersection and 7 were intersection-related, 40 in all, against 24 away from any junction and 4 related to a driveway. Forty crashes began with a collision with another vehicle in transport, meaning moving or stopped in the roadway, and 34 of those were angle collisions, in which one vehicle strikes another at an angle, often its side. Of the other 30, the first thing struck was a pedestrian in 10, a curb in 8 and a cyclist in 3.

Sixty of the 73 people killed in Gilbert were vehicle occupants: 47 drivers and 13 passengers. Twenty-five of the dead were on a motorcycle or moped, 34 percent of all deaths and 42 percent of the occupants killed; FARS counts riders within the driver and passenger totals. Ten pedestrians and 3 bicyclists were also killed, and 13 of the 70 crashes involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other person outside a vehicle.

Motorcycles and intersections often meet in the same claim. When a driver turns left or pulls out across a rider's path, the dispute usually centers on whether the driver could have seen the motorcycle and how fast it was traveling, and the damage to both vehicles, the rider's position and any video carry weight. For the families of riders and others killed, Arizona's wrongful death deadline is two years, running from the death rather than the injury (A.R.S. § 12-542(2)).

This example is hypothetical, and its dollar figures are invented. Suppose you were riding a motorcycle through a Gilbert intersection on a weekday afternoon when an oncoming driver turned left in front of you, an angle collision like 34 of Gilbert's 70 fatal crashes. You broke your shoulder and several ribs. Your medical bills total $110,000, you lose $30,000 in income, and your pain and suffering is valued at $60,000, for $200,000 in damages.

The driver's insurer concedes that its driver failed to yield but says you were speeding and puts 30 percent of the fault on you. Under Arizona's pure comparative negligence rule, an injured person can recover even when mostly at fault, with the award cut by that person's percentage. At 30 percent, $200,000 becomes $140,000; at 60 percent, it would be $80,000. Because each percentage point is worth $2,000 here, the speed evidence, from skid marks, the motorcycle's damage and any video, is likely to be the focus.

Payment depends on insurance. Arizona drivers must carry at least 25/50/15 in liability coverage, meaning $25,000 for each injured person, $50,000 per crash and $15,000 for property damage, and in an at-fault state that policy is the first source. If the driver had only the minimum, the rider's $140,000 recovery would be $115,000 more than the policy pays for one person. What happens to that gap depends on other policies, which is a question for an attorney. A lawsuit would generally be due within two years (A.R.S. § 12-542).

Arizona's first requirement is immediate notice. When a crash injures or kills anyone, the driver must notify police immediately, using the quickest means available: the local police inside a city or town, the county sheriff's office or the nearest highway patrol office (A.R.S. § 28-666). Arizona drivers have no crash report form of their own to file; the officer who investigates writes the report. If only property was damaged, the drivers must stop and exchange information or notify the owner.

• Intersection evidence fades fast: if it is safe, take pictures of the traffic lights, any left-turn arrow and where each vehicle stopped, since 40 of Gilbert's 70 fatal crashes were at or related to an intersection.
• If you were riding, do not throw away a damaged helmet or jacket, and get pictures of the motorcycle before a shop or an insurer handles it.
• Note the report number and the agency that investigated; Arizona DPS's records page covers crashes its troopers investigated, and other reports come from the local agency.
• Within days, ask businesses and homes near the scene whether a camera recorded the crash.
• If a government vehicle or employee may be involved, ask an attorney about the 180-day claim deadline at once (A.R.S. § 12-821.01(A)).

For a crash in Gilbert, the usual court for an injury lawsuit is the Maricopa County Superior Court, although some cases belong in another county or in federal court; FARS places all 70 of Gilbert's fatal crashes in Maricopa County. Arizona's statute of limitations, the deadline after which a lawsuit can no longer be brought, is generally two years from the date of injury (A.R.S. § 12-542).

The two-year rule shifts with who is claiming. A family bringing a wrongful death claim counts two years from the death (A.R.S. § 12-542(2)). For a child, the clock pauses until 18, and then the full period runs (A.R.S. § 12-502). An employee hurt while driving for work generally turns to workers' compensation, run by the Industrial Commission of Arizona: the injury should be reported to the employer right away, “forthwith” under A.R.S. § 23-908(E), and the claim filed within one year. A claim against a government body must be filed with that body within 180 days (A.R.S. § 12-821.01(A)).

Arizona's pure comparative rule is what keeps the rider in the example from losing everything at 60 percent fault: the award shrinks to $80,000 but survives. Where a state bars recovery at 50 or 51 percent, that finding would end the claim. Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, which use contributory negligence, go further and can bar an injured person found even slightly at fault, so the insurer's 30 percent figure could leave the rider with nothing there.

The insurance system matters too. Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey are no-fault states, with their own rules on who pays first; Arizona is an at-fault state, so the other driver's liability insurer is the first source of payment. Deadlines differ as well: Tennessee gives one year for most injury claims, half the two years Arizona generally allows, and Arizona's 180-day rule for claims against a government body is shorter still, which is why the owner of the other vehicle matters early.

An attorney must evaluate the facts of any crash. Ask Legal Matters is a personal injury lead-generation service that collects free case review requests from injured people in the United States and shares them with independent attorneys and law firms. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Arizona. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency. If you were hurt in a crash in Gilbert, on a motorcycle or in any other vehicle, you can request a free case review.

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• What should you do after a car accident?

More on this type of claim: Car accidents: evidence, deadlines and when to ask an attorney.

• Gilbert, Arizona: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Motorcycle Accident Claims: Overcoming Rider Bias and Recovering Fully

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