Nebraska Accidents Glossary

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

You just got a letter that says the other side will not deliver the equipment, finish the job, or make the payments promised in your contract - and the deadline has not even...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

area of impact

Where did the collision actually happen? That is the basic question behind area of impact: the physical location where two vehicles, a vehicle and a person, or other moving...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

articles of incorporation

You may see this in a formation packet, a Secretary of State filing receipt, or a lawyer's letter identifying a company as "incorporated under its articles of incorporation."...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-02

bad faith

You might see this phrase in a denial letter, a complaint filed in court, or a lawyer's warning that an insurer is not handling a claim fairly. In plain terms, bad faith means...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

bellwether trial

Everyone says one early trial will decide everything, but actually a bellwether trial is not a final win or loss for every injured person in a large case. It is a test case:...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-21

black box data

You just got a letter that says the trucking company is preserving the vehicle's "black box data" after a crash. That usually means electronic information stored by a vehicle's...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-28

breach of contract

People often mix this up with negligence, but they are not the same. A breach of contract happens when one party fails to do what a valid agreement requires, such as not...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-28

coefficient of friction

Insurance companies and defense lawyers love this phrase because it sounds scientific enough to shut people up. They use it to argue a driver should have stopped sooner, a...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-24

crush analysis

Not a medical assessment of crush injuries, and not just a quick look at dented metal. In accident reconstruction, crush analysis is the measurement and interpretation of how...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-28

delta-v

You just got a letter that says the crash involved a "delta-v of 12 mph," and the insurer is using that number to question how badly anyone could have been hurt. Delta-v means...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-24

duty to defend

An insurer's obligation to provide a legal defense when a claim or lawsuit potentially falls within policy coverage. Each part matters. "Obligation" means it is not optional...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

duty to settle

Not a promise that an insurer must pay every demand, and not the same thing as simply negotiating a claim. The duty to settle is an insurer's obligation to give fair, honest...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

event data recorder

What trips people up most is that it is not a full-time "black box" recording everything a driver says or does. An event data recorder is a device built into many vehicles that...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-28

global settlement

Insurance companies and defense lawyers often use this phrase when they want many claims wrapped up at once, usually on terms that give them cost certainty and less risk. For...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-22

gouge marks

Deep cuts or scrapes in a road, floor, or other surface caused when part of a vehicle or heavy object digs in during a collision or sudden impact. Gouge marks matter because...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

liquidated damages clause

Buried in a contract, invoice, lease, or demand letter, this usually shows up as language saying that if one side breaches the agreement, they must pay a set amount or a...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

operating agreement

People often mix up an operating agreement with articles of organization, but they do different jobs. Articles of organization are the short filing sent to the state to create...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-31

perception-reaction time

The part that trips people up most is that this is not just "braking time." It includes the time a person needs to notice a hazard, understand what it means, decide what to do,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-28

photogrammetry

A method of measuring real-world distances, angles, and positions from photographs or video. "Measuring" is the key part: software compares images, camera angles, and known...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26

piercing the corporate veil

Miss this issue, and a lawsuit can stop at an empty company with no meaningful assets, even when the real decision-maker controlled everything behind the scenes. Piercing the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-30

point of impact

Money can turn on this one detail. If the physical evidence shows the vehicles first contacted each other somewhere different from what a driver claimed, fault can shift fast,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-27

scene mapping

You just got a letter that says an investigator created a scene map of the crash site, and now you want to know whether that matters. Scene mapping is the process of measuring...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-29

sight distance

Like trying to catch a baseball in a parking lot at dusk, everything depends on how far ahead you can actually see before you have to react. In traffic and crash analysis,...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-24

specific performance

You just got a letter that says the other side is asking the court for "specific performance" instead of money. That means they want a judge to order someone to actually do...

GLOSSARY 2026-04-03

third-party bad faith

An insurer's unfair handling of a claim made against its policyholder. Break that down. "Third-party" means the injured person is making a claim against someone else's...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-23

throw distance

You just got a letter that says the crash investigator measured a pedestrian's "throw distance" at 62 feet and used it to estimate vehicle speed. That measurement is the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-24

time-distance analysis

A method of estimating where people or vehicles were, and when, during an event. "Time" means the sequence and duration of movements: when a driver perceived a hazard, how long...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-25

yaw marks

Like the curved streak left by a shopping cart when it swings too fast through a turn, these are tire marks made when a vehicle is still rolling but sliding sideways at the...

GLOSSARY 2026-03-26