Inglewood Police Chase

"Why is 'Holy Shit' our go-to exclamation?"

Because "Holy Mackerel!" takes a bit too long to say, of course! ;)

Only from people who watch too many Hollywood movies. (See "It's showtime!", "Walk with me", "I can explain", etc.) The same screenwriters' guildmembers cranking out the same unoriginal lines over and over.

I actually saw one live chase on television where the police had to shoot the guy.

The sequence was filmed from a helicopter and when the cameraman realized that they were going to shoot the guy, he zoomed out as quickly as he could, but it was too late.

On subsequent airings, the final part was edited out.

I think it has to do with the fact that a singular "shit" is mostly used when a bad event has taken place. Example: "Shit. I dropped my phone in the toilet....again." whereas a "holy shit" is used for a somewhat enjoyable event i.e. "Holy shit! That car chase I just saw on television, which is now passing my house and of which I have nothing to fear, is awesome."