That fake-out got me too.
What’s funny is that I think my normal “video game literacy” actually worked against me here.
Cars = obstacles, crash = bad.
Then the game basically says, “no, idiot, crash MORE.”
I’m starting to think the confusion might actually be one of my favorite parts of the game. If they ever polished this further, I’d almost rather see them lean into the fake-out than tutorialize it away completely.