Much as we had seen Vaughan as endlessly fascinated by the wounds on Ballard, we now get to see Catherine running her hands up the bruised leg and thigh of her husband.  This slow lingering caress puts us at odds with conventional ideas of beauty, of the clean and pure.  Yet it cuts right to the heart of the Crash mythos.

Some time has passed since we last met the couple.  Ballard's leg is no longer in its contraption, and the wounds to his forehead have healed over.  He is already talking about getting a new car, and bemoaning the amount of time he has spent sitting around doing nothing.

One of his main concerns is to buy another vehicle, so he can relieve himself of the balcony and confines of the apartment.  His interest in the traffic and distant vehicles are illustrated by his use of binoculars.  He looks out across the roads below, viewing the freedom of the drivers, watching them as they move along the tarmac, wishing he could be among them.