A rollover crash near 24th Street and Wier Avenue sent a white SUV tumbling onto its side and through a South Phoenix home's brick wall around 8:30 Wednesday morning, scattering cement bricks across a backyard that already held an old rusted car. Both drivers involved were taken to the hospital, and police said they are expected to survive. No one inside the home was hurt.
The crash happened north of Roeser Road in a residential stretch of South Phoenix, according to AZ Family. What led to the rollover remains unclear, and the outlet reports that the cost of repairing the damaged wall has not yet been determined. The South Mountain Precinct patrols 115 square miles and serves roughly 272,000 residents, according to Alliance Bail Bonds.
A Pattern Of Vehicles Breaching Backyard Walls
This is not an isolated scene in the Phoenix area. Hoodline reported that a suspected impaired driver in Glendale crashed through a backyard wall near 59th and Northern Avenues in August, knocking over a grill and sparking a house fire. In August, a rollover crash near 7th Avenue and Portland Street near downtown Phoenix ended with a vehicle slamming into a brick wall, killing a 51-year-old passenger.
Maricopa County recorded 88,094 total motor vehicle crashes and 594 traffic deaths in 2024, even as statewide fatalities fell to 1,228, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Maricopa County accounts for most of Arizona's crashes.
Phoenix's Push To End Severe Crashes
The rollover lands squarely within the scope of the city's ongoing road safety efforts. In January 2022, the Phoenix City Council approved incorporating Vision Zero goals into the Road Safety Action Plan; the comprehensive Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan was approved in September 2022. The plan set a goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on city streets by 2050, according to the City of Phoenix. The city also conducted a Speed Limit Setting Study.
Whether speed, impairment, or a medical emergency played a role in Wednesday's rollover has not been determined. If a crash reconstruction were to reveal reckless conduct, Arizona law classifies driving in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property as a Class 2 misdemeanor under A.R.S. § 28-693, punishable by up to four months in jail, a $750 fine, and an eight-point penalty on the driver's record, according to The Talcott Law Firm.
What Happens To The Damaged Wall
For the South Phoenix homeowner now facing a hole in their property, Arizona law offers some financial backstop. State statute requires motor vehicle liability policies to carry at least $15,000 in property damage coverage per accident for damage inflicted on third-party property, per the Arizona State Legislature. Homeowners insurance policies in the state generally cover physical damage to residences and boundary walls from vehicle impacts as well, which can allow property owners to pursue immediate repairs before their insurer seeks reimbursement from the driver's auto insurance, according to Jackson White Law.
For now, the exact cost of replacing the South Phoenix wall remains unclear, and the circumstances that sent the SUV rolling through it are still under investigation.
