Like, I agree, but at some level I’d actually rather see a fake picture of a drunk driving crash (or no picture) and know this is what the aftermath might look

Like, I agree, but at some level I’d actually rather see a fake picture of a drunk driving crash (or no picture) and know this is what the aftermath might look like but nobody died in this particular shot. For drunk driving in particular, the pictures typically come from the police and aren’t exposed or composed with an artistic purpose. The opposite is true for a bunch of the famous pictures of poverty; these are composed for their (often powerful) emotional effect. Whether it’s a good thing or not, I can imagine that being able to add a little of the art direction after the fact to drunk driving photos might be tempting, i.e., having some control over angle & exposure, and maybe avoid gore in the shot…