In front of car, spots accident (5)
I believe the answer is:
crash
'accident' is the definition.
(crash is a kind of accident)
'in front of car spots' is the wordplay.
'in front of' suggests taking the first letters.
'spots' becomes 'rash' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'car' is 'c'.
'c'+'rash'='CRASH'
(Other definitions for crash that I've seen before include "Dramatic fall" , "Car accident" , "Bang" , "Collide violently" , "Violent collision" .)