Media tends to depict car accidents as a smash. That is, of course, when Hollywood doesn’t make the vehicles explode in stunningly unrealistic fireballs.

And while I’ve never been in a truly cinematic car accident, the sound is dramatically different, yet no less significant.

The reality is more of a crunch. A collapsing of physical structures that reverberates through every part of the vehicle and every part of your body.

Sure, in some cases the shock causes glass to shatter in an oddly muted splintering in the way that only tempered glass can. In extreme cases, fuel may ignite and explosions can occur.

But the constant is the crunch. The sound of plastic and metal and fibreglass panels fracturing in a slow motion instant. Every accident, from the highway rollover to the rush-hour rear-ender, exists not a triumphant smash, but a crunch that anyone who has ever been in an accident can resonate with.

And for those who haven’t experienced this sound — this feeling — I wish you continued avoidance.