`CRASH' COLLIDED WITH CONTROVERSY FROM START.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

``Crash'' has caused controversy ever since it plowed into last year's Cannes Film Festival. The festival jury awarded David Cronenberg's film about car wreck fetishists a special prize ``for originality, daring and audacity,'' but it was bestowed with the caveat that some judges were against the citation.

Since then, ``Crash'' has opened, and done pretty well at the box office, in France, Italy and Cronenberg's native Canada, among many other markets. Outrage in Britain's conservative press, however, delayed the film's release in England. But the attack backfired when some pundits declared a sex scene involving Rosanna Arquette's leg-braced temptress the film's most grotesque. Handicapped people throughout Britain, who liked the idea of being portrayed as sexually attractive, launched angry protests at the critics' publications. Last week, British censors approved the uncut ``Crash'' for theatrical release.

Perhaps the strangest response to ``Crash'' was right here in the U.S.A. The film was bought for distribution by Fine Line Features, a division of New Line Cinema. When ``Crash'' was initially scheduled for release last fall, New Line was wholly owned by Ted Turner - whose response to the movie, once he saw it, was not encouraging.

``I personally was appalled and am appalled by it,'' Turner said during a lecture at the Museum of Television and Radio in November. ``The people with warped minds are going to love this movie. I worry about the first teens that try (to emulate) it.''

While it was widely believed that Turner was responsible for pulling ``Crash'' from October's release schedule, Fine Line president Ruth Vitale said it was a strategic decision on her part.

``Listen, I released `The Grass Harp,' `Twelfth Night' and `Mother Night' last fall, and it was not a smart thing to do,'' Vitale admitted. ``There was just too much year-end competition among independent releases, and most of them were hurt by it.''

Vitale also noted that New Line chairman Robert Shaye and president Michael Lynne are contractually autonomous of Turner and can release whatever they want. This, apparently, also enables Fine Line to release the NC-17 rated ``Crash'' now, despite the fact that Turner has merged his holdings with Warner Bros. Often, when a major studio acquires an independent distributor, such as Disney's buyout of Miramax, the indy is no longer permitted to release adults-only films.

Croneberg's take on the whole mess is one of slightly defensive bemusement.

``I figure Ted did not understand his own reactions to the movie, as many haven't,'' says the director, who offered to, but has not spoken to Turner about the issue. ``To me, that's a fine reaction to this movie because I'm asking the audience to experience something they've never experienced before.

``I think Ted did go to the next available convenient label. He started talking about teen-agers crashing cars and stuff, which is totally nonsensical. `Crash' has been seen by about 5 million people around the world so far, and the traffic statistics have remained constant, so we don't have to guess, we know, that it will not do this.

``The other thing, of course, is that the movie is not about or for teen-agers. And I would say to Ted, `What about ``The Dukes of Hazzard,'' which you rerun on your network?' There, teen-agers crash cars all the time - it's fun, they never get hurt. Wouldn't that be much more likely to induce it?''