Glossary | Car Accident Injury Desk

Airbag abrasion: Friction injury to the face, forearms, or chest from contact with a deploying airbag — usually minor relative to what the bag prevented.
Bodily injury liability: The coverage that pays for injuries the policyholder causes to others, up to the policy limits (post-SB 1107 minimum: $30,000 per person / $60,000 per accident).
CHP 555: The California Highway Patrol's traffic collision report form — the standard police crash report on state highways.
Closing speed: The combined speed of two vehicles approaching each other — the figure that governs the energy in a head-on collision.
Comparative negligence: California's fault rule: recovery is reduced by the claimant's own percentage of fault but not eliminated by it (Civil Code §1714; Li v. Yellow Cab).
Delta-v: The change in velocity an occupant undergoes during a collision — the speed change, not the speed, that drives injury patterns.
First-party claim: A claim on your own policy: collision coverage, medical payments, or UM/UIM.
Fracture: A break in a bone — closed or open, displaced or non-displaced. Diagnosed by imaging.
Head restraint: The padded support behind the occupant's head, positioned to limit rearward head motion in a rear-end collision.
Intrusion: How far the vehicle structure deforms into the occupant space — a side-impact measure.
Lane change: A lateral movement between lanes, governed by Vehicle Code §§22107–22108.
Pretensioner: A seatbelt device that removes belt slack in the first milliseconds of a crash.
Property damage liability: The coverage that pays for damage the policyholder causes to others' property (post-SB 1107 minimum: $15,000).
Rear-end collision: A collision in which one vehicle strikes the rear of another — the mechanism behind whiplash.
Restraint mark: The bruise, abrasion, or imprint left by a seatbelt or airbag on the body — recorded as evidence of restraint use and load path. The seatbelt sign is its belt-shoulder form.
SB 1107: California's 2022 law raising minimum auto liability limits to 30/60/15 for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.
Seatbelt sign: The diagonal bruise pattern left by a shoulder belt across the chest — noted in records as evidence of restraint use.
Sideswipe: Lateral contact between vehicles traveling in the same direction in adjacent lanes.
SR-1: California's written traffic accident report to the DMV, due within 10 days for collisions involving injury, death, or qualifying property damage (Vehicle Code §20008).
Statute of limitations: The filing deadline for a lawsuit: two years for California personal injury (CCP §335.1).
T-bone: A side-impact collision in which one vehicle's front strikes another's side, usually at an intersection.
Third-party claim: A claim against the at-fault driver's liability policy.
Total loss: When repair cost approaches the vehicle's value — the insurer's valuation call, not a medical term.
UM/UIM: Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy — required unless waived in writing (Insurance Code §11580.2).
WAD: Whiplash-associated disorder — the Quebec Task Force's grades 0–IV classification of whiplash injuries.