I saw another collision this morning. I was exiting the 5N at El Toro, and in the right hand lane to turn onto El Toro. The car directly in front of me was a silver import, like a Civic or something, pretty recent model. Directly in front of the silver car was a white American boat, probably around ten years old; a Caddy or Olds.
The light was red. The white car was slowly creeping forward to see if it was clear to make the right turn. The silver car was doing the same. The silver car saw that it was clear and hit the gas. Unfortunately, the white car had yet to move forward. The silver car hit the bumper of the white car, but didn't notice this for a moment, and continued to push the white car forward for two or three seconds. Eventually the silver car stopped moving. I, of course, gasped at the insurance-premium-raising error I had just witnessed. I could see the driver of the silver car hang their head down for a moment. Definitely not happy with him/herself.
The white boat turned into the parking lot right next to the freeway exit. I had to wait for a couple of cars driving straight along El Toro before making my right turn. Boy, I'm glad I wasn't in front of that silver car.
This is just another example of how paying attention to the world around (and especially in front of) you is key to safe driving. I witnessed another rear-ending at a red light a couple of weeks ago that was the result of the offending driver not paying attention. tsk tsk
