What causes a car hit my tree?
A vehicle delivers a large amount of energy into one point on a fixed object. A low-speed bump may stop at the bark; a harder hit drives energy into the wood and into the root plate. Trees at the inside of a curved driveway, trees behind a low curb on a street, and trees serving as de facto mailbox posts absorb most of these. Plow strikes and road-salt spray do the same kind of damage to the same trees, more slowly and less visibly.
What you'd see
Bark scraped or torn off one side down to pale wood, sometimes with a flap still hanging. A gouge or a split running up or down from the impact point. Paint, plastic, or chrome embedded in the wound. Soil pushed up or cracked on the side away from the impact, and turf torn at the base. The tree standing at a slightly different angle than it did. Weeks later, sap or dark wet staining running down from the wound.
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