车祸
chēhuò · HSK 7
accident
🚗💥 che = vehicle + huo = disaster — a vehicle disaster is a crash
车 (chē) means vehicle or car, 祸 (huò) means disaster or calamity. Stack them together: vehicle + disaster = traffic accident. The word literally spells out what it is.
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.