The lawyer argued that the accident was a result of the driver's negligence.

negligence 是名词，来自形容词 negligent（疏忽的、粗心大意的），词根是拉丁语 neglegere（忽视）。negligence 在法律术语中特指"过失、疏忽行为"，即未能尽到应尽的注意义务而导致损害发生。