A Guide to Arizona Traffic and DUI Laws

Scope and Access

This guide includes information for individuals representing themselves in court in defense of a driving violation as well as students who are interested in the general law of Arizona. There are resources originating from the state and federal government regarding safe driving as well as license, title and registration information. The guide contains citation to print and electronic resources.

The call numbers on this page link to library catalog records, which provide information about location, availability, and currency of each item in the Ross-Blakley Law Library. Where available, there are links to electronic books available on the ASU library computers. ASU students, faculty, and staff can also access electronic books using their ASUrite passwords.

Westlaw and LexisNexis links will take you to the specified database if you have a password. These links work better if you are already logged in. The College of Law provides Westlaw and LexisNexis passwords to its law faculty, staff, and students. Westlaw and LexisNexis links will open in a new window.

Resources in Print

Books

Representing Yourself: Appealing a Civil Traffic Case to the Superior Court: A guide on how to appeal a civil traffic case from a Justice Court or Municipal Court to the Superior Court.; Available on the Arizona Judicial Branch website and in the Ross-Blakley law library at KFA2930.A9 R461 2008.
Representing Yourself: Appealing a Criminal Case to the Superior Court: A guide on how to appeal a criminal case (including criminal traffic cases) from a Justice Court or Municipal Court to the Superior Court.; Available on the Arizona Judicial Branch website and in the Ross-Blakley law library at KFA2930.A9 R462 2008.
Arizona Criminal and Traffic Law Manual: compilation of selected laws of Arizona; KFA2430.5 .M52
Arizona DUI: A Manual for Police, Lawyers and Judges: by Jefferson Lankford; KFA2697.8 .Z9
DUI: Seminar materials from the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Alumni Association held Friday, September 7, 2007, Arizona State University campus, Tempe, Arizona; KFA2697.8.A75 D96
DUI and Other Traffic Offenses: continuing legal education materials from seminar held on Friday, September 8, 2006 in Tucson, Arizona conducted by State Bar of Arizona, Continuing Legal Education; KFA2697.8.A75 D97 2006
DUI Reference Manual: a publication of the Judicial College of Arizona, prepared and published by the Education Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts of the Arizona Supreme Court; KFA2697.8.A75 D88 2006
Arizona DUI Trial Notebook: by Bruce H. Chalk, Christina Cabanillas, C. Daniel Carrion, Daniel S. Jurkowitz; KFA2697.8.A75 A7 2005
Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System (9th ed. 2007): by Paul Bergman & Sara J. Berman-Barrett; electronic book (6th ed. 2005) available through ebrary to ASU library users, students, faculty, and staff.
Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law: Answers to your Most Frequently Asked Questions: by Shae Irving; KF387 .N65 2003 (5th ed.); electronic book (6th ed. 2005) available through ebrary to ASU library users, students, faculty, and staff.
Arizona Motor Vehicle Accident Deskbook: by Louis M. Diesel, Donald H. Bayles, and Daniel T. Benchoff; KF2231 .T39 2000
Drunk Driving Defense: by Lawrence Taylor; KF2231 .T39 2000
Arizona DUI Trial Book: A Reference of Cases and Other Material: by Rick Poster; KFA2697.8.A75 A7 1999
Beat Your Ticket: Go to Court & Win! (Nolo 2005): by David Wayne Brown; KF2231.Z9 B76 2005; 1999 edition available as a NetLibrary Electronic Book
Defense of Drunk Driving Cases: Criminal - Civil / by Richard E. Erwin et al.: LexisNexis: 2NDARY;DFDRDR
Drinking/Driving Litigation: Criminal and Civil / by Donald H. Nichols & Flem K. Whited: KF2231 .N53 1998 and Westlaw: DRNKDRIVING
Pattern Discovery: Motor Vehicles - DUI: Westlaw: PDMV-DUI
American Jurisprudence: Driving While Intoxicated: KF154 .A42 (vol. 7A, Autos §§ 332–339) and Westlaw: AMJUR-DUI

Arizona Statutes

The traffic and violations related to driving are located in
Title 28 – Transportation of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
Accessible online at:

Statutes are available in print in the law library in the following locations:

Arizona Reference collection (1st floor reading room)
Law Core (1st floor reading room)
State Collection (3rd floor) Arizona section, KFA2430.5 .M52.

Online Information

Websites

Arizona Department of Public Safety: DUI – Home page: Menu on right side of page with links to Arizona DUI Laws, National DUI statistics, prevention programs, repeat offender programs, DUI enforcement unit, Drug Recognition Expert Program, and the Law Enforcement Phlebotomy Program.

Arizona Department of Transportation: Motor Vehicle Division
Explains: revocation, suspension, traffic school, points assessment, driving on a suspended or revoked license, DUI, DUI penalties, aggressive driving, red-light running, failure to stop at an accident. Also on the ADOT website are links to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Fact summaries for the years 1997 to 2005. These comprehensive summaries contain a multitude of facts and statistics about crashes including information about time of day, highlights and historical data, weather conditions, geographic location, pedestrian involved crashes, DUI involved incidents, motorcycle crashes, and fatalities. The summaries contain charts, tables, and graphs to illustrate and explain the crash statistics.

Arizona Drivers License Manual: Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide in English; Manual de la Licencia de Manejar de Arizona y Guía de Servicio al Cliente en Español
Arizona Revised Statutes: The traffic and violations related to driving are generally located in Title 28 – Transportation.
Governors Office of Highway Safety: Links to Arizona DUI fines, statutes, impaired driving information, Arizona Drug Recognition Expert, seat belt statistics, speed and traffic safety, motorcycle safety, legislative summary, teens and young adults, and bike and pedestrian information. This site also has information about the Governor's Children Are Precious Passengers (CAPP) program. CAPP is designed to increase the awareness of and compliance to child seat usage guidelines and requirements.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: The IIHS website provides information about highway safety including laws and statistics. Users can view traffic laws of the various states by topic, and research studies conducted by the IIHS. There are also statistics available on a variety of subjects.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Has information on driver safety and crash test and rollover results. Information on traffic safety, vehicles and research. Access to information on tire ratings, crash tests, rollover information, fatal alcohol related accident statistics, other data on safety issues related to driving.
Service Arizona: Online services for motorists
Drivers license information, title and registration; access to forms and manuals.
StopDUIAZ.com: This website is sponsored by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and has information about the Arizona laws and penalties concerning driving while under the influence of alcohol. The site provides links to statistics, articles and government agencies. There are mug shots of individuals who have been convicted of DUI offenses in the cities of Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale and Tempe. Contains a special section outlining the penalty of conviction if individual is under the age of 21.

Forms and Self-Help

Maricopa County Superior Court: Maricopa County Superior Court Self-Service Center:
Arizona Department of Transportation Forms and Publication online: Provides access to 150 forms and publications. Forms can be searched and sorted by form name, form number, category, by commercial license, vehicle or drivers services.

Cities, Courts and other services

Arizona Justice Court - Traffic Violations: Follow the link for “Traffic Violations”. Includes information on civil and criminal traffic violations, violator rights and a link to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.
Arizona State University - Student Legal Assistance - Traffic & Parking Violations: Information from the Student Legal Assistance office of ASU about how student's can handle traffic and parking tickets.
City of Avondale Civil Traffic Tickets: This page provides the options a driver has upon receiving a traffic citation in the city of Avondale, Arizona.
City of Chandler Civil Traffic Charges: This webpage gives you the options as provided by the city of Chandler upon receiving a traffic violation and explains the process of resolving those violations.
City of Fountain Hills Civil Traffic Court: This is link to the Fountain Hills Municipal Court website which contains information about traffic violations and resolutions of tickets in Fountain Hills.
City of Gilbert Arizona Civil Traffic Court: This is the website of the City of Gilbert's civil traffic court. It explains options when after receiving ticket, courts locations and hours.
City of Glendale Arizona Civil Traffic Court & Parking Violations: This is the traffic and parking violations page of the Glendale, Arizona court.
City of Mesa Traffic Violations: Contains information about how to resolve citations in the city of Mesa, Arizona.
Flagstaff Municipal Court (Coconino County, Arizona): Defensive Driving/Traffic Schools in Coconino County accessible at http://www.coconino.az.gov/courts.aspx?id=245. Contains information about driving schools and traffic courts in the following cities: Flagstaff, Fredonia, Page and Williams.
City of Phoenix Municipal Court: Municipal Court, minor criminal or civil traffic violations information including information defining possible pleas.; Phoenix defensive driving program information can be found at http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/COURT/defdrive.html. Includes information eligibility and registration. Has descriptions, locations and links to Arizona driving programs.
Scottsdale City Court: Handles civil traffic violations within the city of Scottsdale. Specific information available from the civil traffic cases webpage at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/courts/civil.asp. Information available regarding the procedure of resolving or disputing a traffic ticket including those involving insurance, registration, drivers' license, and equipment violations. Information about Scottsdale's defensive driving schools and how to enroll can be found at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/courts/drivingclass.asp.; To resolve “Photo Enforcement complaint” consult the Photo Radar webpage.
City of Tempe - City Court - Civil/Traffic Tickets: Includes information regarding how to resolve traffic tickets including various plea options, defensive driving school, and appeals. A table to discern what fine is due per code violation consult http://www.tempe.gov/court/fines.htm#Traffic.
Tucson City Court Civil Traffic Court Information: Follow the link for “Civil Traffic Court Information”.; Tucson traffic school information: Has information about eligibility and advantages of attending traffic school. Also, provides a link to internet registration.

By Amy Levine; updated 04/27/2009. Friendly URL: http://www.law.asu.edu/traffic.

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Armstrong Hall • McAllister & Orange Streets • P.O. Box 877906, Tempe, Arizona 85287 • Phone: (480) 965-6181