Can a car hit my tree be fixed without removing the tree?
Usually yes, provided the trunk itself is intact. As a rule of thumb, a tree can wall off and grow around a wound covering less than roughly half the trunk circumference and live for decades. Trim ragged bark back to where it is still firmly attached and then leave it alone — do not paint, tar, or wrap the wound, which traps moisture and feeds decay. If bark was removed all the way around, the tree is girdled and it becomes a removal on a schedule rather than a rescue. If the stem is cracked or the base moved, survival is beside the point and the safety question governs.
How long you have to decide
The safety question resolves in days: either someone competent examines the base and stem and clears it, or the tree comes down. The health question runs for years. The wound stays open and closes only slowly from the edges — a fraction of an inch to an inch of new tissue a year depending on species and vigor. Decay builds quietly behind that wound, so a tree that shrugged off the crash in year one can be a genuine hazard tree by year ten or twelve. The right outcome is a re-inspection interval, not a verdict.
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