*Skreeeek!* *Klank!* *Clunnngk!* *Slam!* *Smack!*

The sound of a car crash reminds me of high school. One of the perks of being a drama student was getting out of class to set up the school hall for productions; stacking chairs and desks, pulling out pallets. When someone knocked over a rise or a stack of chairs they would topple and hit the ground, making a hideous chain of clangs which would boom and echo across the hall. That's what a car crash sounds like: there's a screech, then the slamming sounds of impacts follow on, in a rapid booming series.

I was idly walking up Illawarra road when I heard someone knock over a huge stack of desks behind me. That was wierd. Why would anyone put a huge pile of school desks in the middle of the road? People were running to see it, with a purpose they didn't have a few seconds before. It dawned on me: a school desk van must have broken open, spilling its contents all over! I ran to clear the road of these hazards.

Ok. Enough of that. It was a car crash. A blackish old sedan type had smashed down a metal traffic barrier-thingy on route to burying itself headfirst into the non-Station side of Sydney's Las Vegas (that's Marrickvile RSL, for those not in the know), aided by a bash in the butt by a speeding white car. The old geezer in the black was a little shaken but seemed ok - an airbag saved his life. White car chick was unhurt.

These things are interesting to watch just for the way people react. A group of a dozen or so hang around the main vehicle crash scenes and look after victims, everyone else watches from a greater distance and point and gesticulate, recreating trajectories and impacts with their arms, nutting out rough consensus.

Then the cops and medicos come round and take statements and everyone leaves. The excitement and interest disappates. People later pass by the embedded car like it wasn't there.