Alaska Injuries Dictionary

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

After a crash on the Glenn Highway outside Anchorage, people often mix up Alaska's 50% bar rule with contributory negligence. They are not the same. Under contributory...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-21

absorptive phase

The period after alcohol is consumed but before the body has fully absorbed it, when blood alcohol concentration can keep rising even though the last drink is already finished....

DICTIONARY 2026-03-28

ATGATT

People constantly mix up ATGATT with just "wearing gear." Not the same thing. "Gear" can mean anything from a half-buckled helmet to a jacket someone threw on because it looked...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

benzene exposure

You may see it in a lab report, employer notice, cleanup letter, or doctor's note: "possible benzene exposure," "history of benzene exposure," or "elevated risk due to...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-22

conspicuity

It can directly affect how much blame gets assigned after a crash, which can change what an injured rider recovers. When a driver says, "I never saw the motorcycle," the...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-26

countersteering

Get this wrong after a motorcycle crash, and it can cost real money. Insurance adjusters and defense lawyers may argue a rider "overcorrected" or handled the bike poorly. If...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-24

dry reckless

A dry reckless is a reduced reckless driving charge used in place of an alleged DUI, with no alcohol- or drug-related wording in the name of the offense. "Reduced" matters...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-30

DUI vs DWI

They are not always two different crimes. A common misunderstanding is that DUI and DWI mean the same thing everywhere, or that one is automatically "less serious" than the...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-29

encumbrance

The worst outcome is finding out too late that property you bought, inherited, or relied on is burdened by someone else's legal right or claim. An encumbrance is any interest,...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

field sobriety test

A roadside set of physical and mental tasks used to help an officer judge whether a person may be impaired. "Field" means it is usually done where the stop happens, not in a...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-30

foreclosure process

Not simply a landlord kicking out a tenant, the foreclosure process is the legal procedure a lender uses to take and sell property after a borrower defaults on a mortgage or...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

helmet law defense

You may see this in an insurer's letter or hear it from an adjuster: "Your injuries were made worse because you were not wearing a helmet." That is the helmet law defense - an...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-24

highside crash

You might see this phrase in a police report, insurance letter, repair estimate, or a rider's account of a wreck: the bike lost traction, then suddenly caught again, throwing...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-26

horizontal gaze nystagmus

A lot can ride on this test: arrest decisions, license problems, higher defense costs, and pressure to plead guilty based on what many people assume is a foolproof sign of...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-03

ignition interlock device

You may see this in a court order, DMV notice, or plea paperwork saying you must "install and maintain an IID" before you can drive again. That usually means a breath-testing...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-30

impaired driving

You usually see this phrase in a police report, charging papers, an insurance letter, or somebody saying, "They think the other driver was impaired." What it means is simple: a...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-31

implied consent

You may see this in a police notice, a license revocation packet, or an officer's warning after a traffic stop: by driving on public roads, a person is treated as having...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-03

lane filtering

People often mix this up with lane splitting, but they are not the same. Lane splitting means riding a motorcycle between rows of moving vehicles traveling in the same...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-27

lane splitting

What trips people up most is the myth that riding between rows of slow or stopped cars is automatically legal if traffic is crawling. It is not. Lane splitting means a...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-25

latency period

It is not the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit, and it is not the same thing as a recovery period after an injury. A latency period is the gap between a harmful...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-22

left-turn accident

Not every crash involving a vehicle turning left is automatically the rider's fault, and it is not limited to intersections. A left-turn accident usually happens when a driver...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-25

lowside crash

The biggest mistake riders make is treating this like a minor slide when it can cause serious injuries and a major fight over fault: a lowside crash happens when a motorcycle...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-22

misdemeanor DUI

Not every drunk or drugged driving charge is a felony, and that's where people get sloppy. A misdemeanor DUI is still a criminal offense for operating a vehicle while impaired...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-01

motorcycle bias

Insurance companies and defense lawyers use this phrase as a quiet weapon. They lean on the stereotype that riders are reckless, thrill-seeking, and partly to blame the moment...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-25

motorcycle endorsement

Think of it like getting a stamp on your passport that unlocks a specific kind of travel. A motorcycle endorsement is the added permission on a regular driver's license that...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-22

one leg stand test

Like checking whether someone can balance on one foot while pulling on a boot, this exercise measures balance, coordination, and the ability to follow simple instructions at...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-28

OWI

The point that confuses people most is that OWI is often used interchangeably with DUI and DWI, but the exact label depends on the state. OWI means "operating while...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-29

PFAS contamination

What does PFAS contamination actually mean? It means water, soil, air, food, or a building has been polluted by PFAS - "per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances," a large group of...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-22

prescriptive easement

Picture a path across a neighbor's land that gets used so openly and so regularly that, after enough years, the law may treat that use like a limited property right. A...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

retrograde extrapolation

A backward estimate of what a person's blood alcohol level was at an earlier time. "Backward estimate" matters because the test usually happens after the stop, crash, or...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-03

rising blood alcohol defense

Defense lawyers use this argument to say a driver was not legally intoxicated when the crash or traffic stop happened, even if a later breath or blood test showed an illegal...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-03

road rash classification

You may see this phrase in an emergency room note, a discharge summary, an insurance letter, or a conversation with a doctor or adjuster after a motorcycle crash. It means the...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

SCRAM bracelet

You just got a letter that says you must wear a SCRAM bracelet while your case is pending, and suddenly an ankle monitor is part of your daily routine. A SCRAM bracelet is a...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-30

SMIDSY defense

Not a formal legal defense recognized by statute, the "SMIDSY defense" is the common excuse that a driver "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You" after colliding with a motorcyclist....

DICTIONARY 2026-03-26

super extreme DUI

You just got a letter that says your blood alcohol level was high enough for a "super extreme DUI," and now you're panicking because it sounds like the worst version of a drunk...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-28

target fixation

Miss this, and a rider can stare straight at the guardrail, pothole, moose, or oncoming vehicle they want to avoid - and then ride right into it. Target fixation is the...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-26

title insurance

You may have seen it on a closing disclosure, a settlement statement, or in a note saying the lender requires a policy before the sale can finish. It is insurance that protects...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23

walk and turn test

A roadside balance-and-attention exercise used by police to look for signs of alcohol or drug impairment, it asks a person to take heel-to-toe steps in a straight line, turn in...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-29

zero tolerance law

A rule like this can drain your bank account and narrow your defense options fast, especially if a license suspension, towing bill, higher insurance rates, or a criminal charge...

DICTIONARY 2026-04-02

zoning variance

A zoning variance can save a project, protect property value, or decide whether a land-use dispute becomes an expensive dead end. When a parcel cannot reasonably be used under...

DICTIONARY 2026-03-23