in the car crash when your parents died

[diamondcutter]

The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
　　"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."
Source: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J. K. Rowling

In the last sentence above, is “where” more appropriate than “when”?

 

[5jj]

No.

 

[diamondcutter]

Is "where" also acceptable?

 

[5jj]

Not to me.

 

[diamondcutter]

A car crash is an event which happens at a specific time. That’s why the word “when” is used after it not “where” in the OP. Is my understanding correct?

 

[diamondcutter]

1. Their youngest child is at the stage where she can say individual words but not full sentences.
Source: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

2. One or two students are now nearing the stage when they’re good enough to take the exam.
Source: Cambridge International Dictionary of English

In these two sample sentences, the word “stage” is treated differently. In the first sentence, it is treated as a place and in the second, it is treated as a time. Similarly, is it also possible for us to look upon the word “car crash” in the OP either as a time or a place?

 

[Ostap]

Why not? A car crash is an event. It has a time and a place at once. The car crash in which his parents died = the car crash where his parents died.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, it's an event, but it's not a place. It's something that happened at a particular place.

 

[Ostap]

Yes, it's an event, but it's not a place. It's something that happened at a particular place.

Likewise, neither is it a time, is it?

- When did his parents die?
- When the car crash happened.

- Where did his parents die?
- Where the car crash happened.

 

[jutfrank]

Aunt Petunia uses when because she's answering the question of when Harry got the scar. In other words, she's thinking about the time more than anything else.

A car crash is an event which happens at a specific time. That’s why the word “when” is used after it not “where” in the OP. Is my understanding correct?

I think so, yes.