Would someone versed in relative motion consider it more accurate to say that a car slammed into, or collided with, a wall?

I've read that it's just as correct to think of A moving toward B (ie. A doesn't move, but B does) as it is to think about B as moving toward A (again, A doesn't move, but B does) or as the two moving toward each other.

If I imagine a universe in which only two objects exists - then that seems like it would be the case. However, in that universe there isn't really a point of reference to say whether one object isn't moving.

Is there a useful and accurate way to think about these kinds of relations?

Thank you -Hal.

Answer

Any point may be chosen as a reference point, as speed is always relative to something else. Let's imagine I'm driving on the highway, and I'm going 10mph relative to the car I'm overtaking. Unfortunately for me, the other car was moving at the speed limit(60mph) and there was a speed camera, which gave me a ticket for going 70mph relative to the camera.

If there were only 2 objects in a universe, the only things one could establish for sure is the speed of one object relative to the other(and vice versa), and the direction of movement. One can't establish that both(or neither) objects would be moving, because one can't define relative to what they are moving. And for describing speed, one needs a reference.