When you watch a movie and there’s a car crash, there’s always a giant crashing sound that accompanies it. Now, we all know that movies are not reality and that sound effects are often exaggerated, but since you don’t see or hear real car crashes every day, you sort of come to expect them to sound the way they sound in the movies. You know: “Khkhkhkhkhkhkhkkh!”

In reality, car crashes are not nearly so spectacular. In fact, if it’s a fender-bender, it sounds like this: “Thud!” That’s it, just “thud.”

How do I know? Well, because someone ran into the back of me today. I was going north on Knoxville when the flow of traffic stopped (presumably because someone was turning left up ahead). The person coming up behind me didn’t realize that the flow of traffic had stopped. Despite his attempt to swerve at the last minute, he still hit me on the right rear bumper.

What made the biggest impression on me was the sound: “Thud!” Not at all what I expected. I expected “khkhkhkhkhkhkhkhkh!”

That reminds me of what a firefighter friend of mine told me — that cars don’t explode. Cars are always exploding in the movies, but that almost never happens in real life, he said. Of course, if someone puts a bomb in a car, then it explodes. But if the car is just on fire, it will burn, but not blow up.

Our view of reality is so skewed by Hollywood, isn’t it?