explosions - Classic or DUDDOOOM?

Last Friday afternoon I was walking home along a quiet road when a car came towards me with its front undercarriage on fire. It was so dramatic & unusual a sight that my brain had difficulty processing what was going on at first. I half thought that it could be some fancy customised effect then I realized that was silly, then I thought I should wave him to pull over, but I had heavy shopping bags in my hands and what if it was just about to blow up - and while these jumbled thoughts were running through my head I did nothing but move quickly to the far side of the road before he passed. Five hundred yards further down the road the driver pulled over himself and got out. 30 seconds later the petrol tank exploded and the car was engulfed in flame. I'm still not sure whether I did the wrong thing in doing nothing. He could very easily have died as a result of my hesitancy/cowardice but if I'd waved him to pull over, by the time I'd explained what was going on we could both have copped it.

To answer the question: classic, so long as you're not responsible for other people being killed in them.

My great fear re: explosions is deafness. I mean, unless we're talking war-type bombs, you have to be pretty close (and unlucky) to suffer fatal injuries or the loss of a limb. But I often wonder whether dozens of people within 50 yards or so get their eardrums blown out. I suppose it depends on the immediate environs of the bomb and how the pressure wave dissipates.

Fear of tinnitus/hearing loss is one of several (very lame) reasons why I don't go to clubs much anymore. Sorry, this should be in another thread...

To answer the question: explosions at the extremes end of the scale are classic - i.e. supernovae and particle accelerator impacts. Most stuff inbetween: dud.

THis has been doen already