A tree never hits a car except in self-defense.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

A tree hitting a car only in self-defence reverses ordinary responsibility in a comic collision scene. The tree is given the role of a responding actor.

What the words are saying

The personification can question blaming an inanimate object, but it does not establish the cause of an actual incident or prove a driver at fault. A responsible explanation keeps the joke separate from traffic safety, legal judgment and sympathy for people harmed. No driving method is supplied.

Everyday example

A reader recognises the reversed blame joke without using it to assign responsibility for a real collision.

When to use it

Use it to explain personification and comic reversal.

Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.