Crossword Genius

Bashed car, American one on motorway (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dodgem

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'bashed car american one on motorway' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'american one on motorway' is the wordplay.
'american one' becomes 'dodge' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'motorway' becomes 'm'.
'dodge'+'m'='DODGEM'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dodgem that I've seen before include "Small car at funfair for bumping into others" , "ride - with 14a" , "Car used in fairground" , "Fairground amusement vehicle" , "Electric car" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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