# Attention, directors: Cars do not explode when they crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025 "2019-09-11T03:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/1 "2019-09-11T03:56:49Z")
We’ve all driven past wrecks. How many looked like the aftermath of an explosion/fireball? At most you’ll see some flames coming out of the engine. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/2 "2019-09-11T04:53:34Z")
Sister and BIL rolled their car, ran away about twenty feet away, then had this conversation: “So, how far away should we be?” “Y’mean, if it blows up?” “Wouldn’t it have blown up by now if it was going to? I mean…” “Yeah, we only had about three gallons of gas in the tank.” “Well, THAT won’t be much of a fireball…” They genuinely felt let down that their car didn’t explode. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/3 "2019-09-11T05:02:21Z")
I don’t see as many explosions in car chase scenes anymore. They tend to go for spectacular spinning wrecks that fly through the air and narrowly miss as they skim past their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/4 "2019-09-11T11:56:20Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > We’ve all driven past wrecks. How many looked like the aftermath of an explosion/fireball? At most you’ll see some flames coming out of the engine. Fuel tanks do occasionally rupture. Over the past few years the evening news has shown cell phone or body-cam video of rescuers quickly extracting trapped/incapacitated drivers from burning cars. But you’re right, these are just fires, not explosions, and they’re a minority of crashes. The canal chase scene from Terminator II has always bothered me, [specifically this part.](https://youtu.be/rUd3rgVJusk?t=387). T-1000 crashes the big tow truck, diesel fuel leaks out, and a spark triggers a massive explosion. Gasoline might light off and burn vigorously with a spark, but diesel is stubborn stuff. You have to soak some kind of wick (rag, stick, whatever) and then hold a flame to that wick for several seconds to convince it to stay lit. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/5 "2019-09-11T13:22:29Z")
A locomotive derailed, flipped over, and the diesel fuel exploded spectacularly in _Unstoppable_, but then, the whole film was a spectacular mess. Reality and that film were like intersecting train tracks - they didn’t actually touch. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/6 "2019-09-11T13:25:13Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > We’ve all driven past wrecks. How many looked like the aftermath of an explosion/fireball? At most you’ll see some flames coming out of the engine. Attention viewers: The Directors know that you know or should know that cars don’t generally explode (well except vintage Pintos). But it sells dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/7 "2019-09-11T13:32:11Z")
Well, we action movie fans allow for an ample amount of “movie magic” because we love to look at the spectacular effects. I mean, there are many more things that happen on screen that also vary from the improbable to the downright impossible. If these kinds of things really bother you, you are probably watching the wrong kind of movies in terms of enjoyment and taste. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/8 "2019-09-11T13:32:35Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Fuel tanks do occasionally rupture. Over the past few years the evening news has shown cell phone or body-cam video of rescuers quickly extracting trapped/incapacitated drivers from burning cars. But you’re right, these are just fires, not explosions, and they’re a minority of crashes. > > The canal chase scene from Terminator II has always bothered me, [specifically this part.](https://youtu.be/rUd3rgVJusk?t=387). T-1000 crashes the big tow truck, diesel fuel leaks out, and a spark triggers a massive explosion. Gasoline might light off and burn vigorously with a spark, but diesel is stubborn stuff. You have to soak some kind of wick (rag, stick, whatever) and then hold a flame to that wick for several seconds to convince it to stay lit. True, but at least in this case the movie actually gives a rationale for the truck bursting into flame – sparks from the wiring. Cameron did something similar in the first **Terminator** movie, where the car Reese is shooting at bursts into flame because of the sparks created by his bullets ricocheting. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/9 "2019-09-11T13:40:47Z")
I saw one once on a police dashcam. Cruiser pulls over a motorcyclist. Once stopped, the motorcyclist decides to flee and pulls a u-turn. As soon as he is broadside in the lane he is nailed by a car coming up behind him. The motorcycle is sent across the centerline into opposing traffic where it is struck and overridden by a large pickup. As the pickup overrides it, the undercarriage tears the motorcycle’s gas tank apart and it ignites in a fireball. Because the truck is ramping over the motorcycle, as this happens it’s wheels come off the ground (albiet briefly). Closest thing to a CHiPs episode I’ve ever seen IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/10 "2019-09-11T13:49:18Z")
[Cracked: The 5 Most Baffling Explosions in Movie History](https://www.cracked.com/article_16409_the-5-most-baffling-explosions-in-movie-history.html) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/11 "2019-09-11T14:39:58Z")
Believe it or not, George Lucas (of all people) got it (mostly) right in, “American Graffiti,” when Harrison Ford’s jalopy turns over and burns. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/12 "2019-09-11T14:57:48Z")
I have been driving in California for 35 years. They may not have _exploded_, but I have seen more than a few single cars crashed, upside down and engulfed in flames on the highway. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/13 "2019-09-11T17:21:38Z")
> [@](#): > > A locomotive derailed, flipped over, and the diesel fuel exploded spectacularly in Unstoppable, but then, the whole film was a spectacular mess. Reality and that film were like intersecting train tracks - they didn’t actually touch. Diesel fuel can explode in a train crash - happened in the Ladbroke Grove (Paddington) rail crash. The impact was such that the fuel tank was destroyed and sprayed fuel into the air which led to the ignition. > **[Ladbroke%20Grove%20Rail%20Inquiry%20Report%20Part%201.pdf](https://www.jesip.org.uk/uploads/media/incident_reports_and_inquiries/Ladbroke%20Grove%20Rail%20Inquiry%20Report%20Part%201.pdf)** Section 4.10 will be of interest to you, and also from 4.30 which deals specifically with the fire, section 4.31 notes the damage and pressurisation of one of the fuel tanks and subsequent fireball - furthermore the actual development of the fireball is described in some detail, which expanded laterally some 70 metres - which would be pretty spectacular and probably larger than that in \*\*\* Terminator\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/14 "2019-09-11T17:47:00Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I have been driving in California for 35 years. > > They may not have _exploded_, but I have seen more than a few single cars crashed, upside down and engulfed in flames on the highway. In 45 years of driving I have never seen something like that. More than a few engine fires that totaled the vehicle, and once I was rear-ended at a traffic light and the car behind me caught fire, but crashed in flames, never. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/15 "2019-09-11T18:05:46Z")
The other thing to note is that in the movies, late model cars don’t deploy airbags when they crash. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/16 "2019-09-11T18:24:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Attention viewers: The Directors know that you know or should know that cars don’t generally explode (well except vintage Pintos). But it sells dammit. So you are saying [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj58o87sY) is not realistic? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/17 "2019-09-11T18:53:24Z")
Victims of car crashes in the movies appear to be psychic. If the care is going to explode, they get out and run as fast as they can. If it is not going to explode, they just sit there looking dazed. (paraphrased from an observation by Roger Ebert.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/18 "2019-09-11T19:29:20Z")
Yes, cars don’t explode when they crash. So? What’s the big deal if they’re portrayed that way? Who gets hurt if it’s shown that way? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/19 "2019-09-11T19:31:17Z")
Every person who is dragged from an accident by bystanders who are afraid the car is going to explode, that’s who. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/20 "2019-09-11T19:56:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > In 45 years of driving I have never seen something like that. More than a few engine fires that totaled the vehicle, and once I was rear-ended at a traffic light and the car behind me caught fire, but crashed in flames, never. It happens. [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj8rKejxcnkAhUOup4KHcchD6YQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbclosangeles.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2FVideographer-Pulls-Man-From-Burning-Car-on-110-Freeway-409258155.html&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj8rKejxcnkAhUOup4KHcchD6YQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbclosangeles.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2FVideographer-Pulls-Man-From-Burning-Car-on-110-Freeway-409258155.html&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oSYVPEyT-B0/maxresdefault.jpg "Car Fire Injury 101 Fwy / Los Angeles RAW FOOTAGE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSYVPEyT-B0) [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiBrdHcxcnkAhXRrZ4KHVSYByEQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Flafd%2F32471512897&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiBrdHcxcnkAhXRrZ4KHVSYByEQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Flafd%2F32471512897&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063) [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiKxbWBxsnkAhWXjp4KHUBjBE0Qjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Fkilled-fiery-multi-car-crash-east-los-angeles%2Fstory%3Fid%3D37245846&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiKxbWBxsnkAhWXjp4KHUBjBE0Qjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Fkilled-fiery-multi-car-crash-east-los-angeles%2Fstory%3Fid%3D37245846&psig=AOvVaw3qGmMUYwTPjpu4UfWUUbsa&ust=1568317782342063) > **[Video Up to 30 vehicles crashed in a multi-vehicle accident in Los Angeles...](https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/30-vehicles-crashed-multi-vehicle-accident-los-angeles-61914390)** > > Thick fog and rain triggered the pile-up, police said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025.md?page=2)