Maryland Accidents Glossary

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

Getting this point wrong can cost real money, because the spot where vehicles first made contact often shapes who gets blamed, whose story holds up, and whether an insurer...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

coefficient of friction

You may see this in a crash report, expert disclosure, or insurer letter as a number such as "drag factor 0.70," "mu = 0.45," or "coefficient of friction for the roadway...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

crush analysis

Not a simple estimate of repair costs or a quick look at dents, crush analysis is a technical method for measuring how much a vehicle deformed in a collision and using that...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

deliberate indifference standard

Defense lawyers often lean on this phrase to argue that a bad outcome, a missed warning sign, or even a series of poor decisions was "just negligence" and not enough for a...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-22

delta-v

The change in a vehicle's speed during a crash. "Speed" here means velocity, so delta-v measures how much the vehicle's motion changed, not just how fast it was going before...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

event data recorder

A built-in vehicle device that captures a short burst of technical information before, during, and after a crash, such as speed, braking, throttle use, seat belt status, and...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-04

failure to intervene

A failure to intervene happens when someone with the duty and real chance to stop wrongdoing does nothing. Each part matters. "Duty" means the person was not just nearby; they...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

First Amendment retaliation

Not every rude comment, workplace dispute, or negative response after someone speaks up counts as a constitutional violation. A government official is usually allowed to...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

gouge marks

Deep cuts in a road surface caused by hard vehicle parts striking and scraping the pavement during a crash. "Deep cuts" separates them from lighter scrape marks or ordinary...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-03

motor carrier

No - it does not just mean the person driving the truck. That is the most common mix-up. A motor carrier is usually the company or business responsible for transporting...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

Non-economic damages

Mix this up with economic damages, and a claim can be valued far too low. That usually shows up when an insurer pays attention to bills, wage loss, and car repairs, but gives...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

perception-reaction time

Like reaching for the brake when the car ahead suddenly lights up red, there is always a short gap between seeing a danger and actually doing something about it. That gap is...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

photogrammetry

Not just "looking at photos" or making a rough guess from pictures, photogrammetry is a measurement method that uses photographs or video to calculate real-world distances,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

point of impact

You just got a letter that says the insurer disputes the "point of impact" in your crash. That means the parties disagree about the exact place where two vehicles, a vehicle...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

scene mapping

Not just a few photos, a rough sketch, or a cop's memory of where the cars ended up. That's the usual mistake. Scene mapping is the measured layout of an accident site - using...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

sight distance

The length of roadway or waterway a person can see ahead. "Length" matters because sight distance is measured, not guessed. In crash analysis, it can be estimated from...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

throw distance

Money can turn on a few feet. When a person, rider, or object is thrown during a crash, the measured distance from the point of impact to the place where that person or object...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-29

time-distance analysis

Like checking whether there was enough time to catch a bus after leaving work, this method compares speed, distance, and elapsed time to determine whether an event could have...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

yaw marks

Miss this detail after a serious crash, and a bad assumption can take over fast: people may say the driver "just slammed on the brakes" or "must have been speeding" when the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23