Glossary — California Soft Tissue Injury Desk

Every term this desk uses, defined once, plainly. Files link here rather than re-defining mid-sentence.

Term	Definition
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).
Causation	The documented link between the collision and the injury — established by the timeline of first evaluation, symptom log, and records.
Cervical	The neck region — the seven cervical vertebrae and their supporting soft tissue; the whiplash zone.
CT (computed tomography)	Imaging that resolves detailed bone; used where a fracture is suspected but not resolved on plain films.
Delayed onset	The common pattern in which soft-tissue symptoms build over 24–72 hours or longer after the injury event.
Documentation gap	The absence of dated records between injury and complaint — the gap that makes a real injury hard to establish later.
First-party claim	A claim on your own policy: medical payments coverage or UM/UIM.
Grade I / II / III	The AAOS severity grades for sprains and strains: stretch, partial tear, complete tear.
Ligament	The band of tissue joining bone to bone across a joint; injured by a sprain.
Lumbar	The low-back region — the five lumbar vertebrae and their supporting soft tissue.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)	The imaging study that resolves soft tissue — ligaments, tendons, discs, muscle — without radiation.
Myofascial	Pertaining to muscle and its surrounding connective tissue (fascia) — the tissues most crash strains involve.
QTF	The Quebec Task Force on Whiplash-Associated Disorders — the 1995 panel whose WAD classification remains the standard.
Range of motion (ROM)	The measured arc a joint moves through — a standard exam finding used in grading and progress notes.
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 the shoulder belt — noted in records as evidence of restraint use and load path.
Soft tissue	Muscle, tendon, and ligament — the tissues that move and stabilize the body, as opposed to bone.
Sprain	A stretch or tear of a ligament.
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 (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1).
Strain	A stretch or tear of a muscle or tendon.
Tendon	The cord attaching muscle to bone; injured by a strain.
Third-party claim	A claim against the at-fault driver's liability policy.
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.
Whiplash	The common name for the cervical injury pattern from rapid acceleration-deceleration.