A couple of years ago, I was waiting at a bus stop near a rather chaotic roundabout during the morning rush hour. It was drizzling, so the road surface was slick, and the traffic was crawling along in a stop-and-start pattern.
All of a sudden, I noticed a silver hatchback attempting to edge out of a side road onto the main carriageway. The driver seemed a bit impatient and clearly misjudged the gap between vehicles. Just as they pulled forward, a small delivery van in front braked unexpectedly to let a pedestrian cross. The car could not stop in time and ended up shunting into the back of the van. It was not high-speed by any means, more of a low-impact bumper-to-bumper collision, but the sound of crunching plastic was loud enough to make everyone in the queue turn around.
Immediately after the bump, both drivers stepped out onto the pavement. To be honest, I expected a bit of an altercation because people often lose their cool in those situations, but they both stayed remarkably calm. The delivery driver took a few photos of the scratched bodywork on his mobile phone, while the other motorist looked visibly apologetic and flustered. After a brief chat, they exchanged insurance details on a notepad and agreed to pull their vehicles over into a nearby lay-by to avoid holding up the morning commuters.
I was quite relieved that nobody was hurt, as it was really just superficial damage to the bumpers. The whole ordeal was sorted out in roughly ten minutes, but it served as a vivid reminder of how easily a momentary lapse in concentration can lead to a mishap.