This paper explains the most frequent psychological symptom that a car accident victim experiences and describes the nature of an anxiety and avoidant reaction to being in a car following an accident. The description of these responses is based on clinical and in-vivo observations from the treatment of more than 450 cases. Accident victim responses to being both a passenger and a driver following the accident are discussed. The theoretical constructs of the repetition compulsion, completion tendency, and classical conditioning are applied to explain why accident victims often not only fear being in another accident, but actually expect to be in a subsequent accident. (Author/NB)