Maybe involved in car accident, so tried (3,1,4)

I believe the answer is:

had a bash

'tried' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'maybe involved in car accident so' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'so' could be 'as' (eg 'not as tall as me' means 'not so tall as me') and 'as' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

(Another definition for had a bash that I've seen is " Tried".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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