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司机及时停车,才避免了一起交通事故。
司机及时停车 = The driver stopped his car timely.
Ignoring 才 , 才避免了一起交通事故 can be translated as "avoided a traffic accident completely".
Above both translations were done by myself by the way.
I've been confusing understanding the role and the meaning of 才 here.
司机及时停车，避免了一起交通事故。 = The driver stopped the car in time, (and) avoided a traffic accident.
司机及时停车[才]避免了一起交通事故。 = The driver avoided a traffic accident [only because] he stopped the car in time
[才] marks [司机及时停车] as the condition and [避免了一起交通事故] as the result
Another example:
有錢買車 = Have money to buy a car
有錢[才]買車 = Buy a car [only when] I have money
[才] marks [有錢] as the condition and [買車] as the result
才 is a particle for conditional clauses, similar to only by.
Depending on the reading, 及时停车 or 司机及时停车 is the condition that ensured 避免了一起交通事故. The first reading has the subject 司机 for the whole sentence, and translates as the drive avoided a traffic accident only by stopping the car in time. The second reading has the subject 司机 for the first clause and the event 司机及时停车 as the condition while 避免 has no subject. It translates as only by the fact that the driver stopped the car in time was a traffic accident avoided.
Without 才, the sentence is just a simple clause with a complicate predicate, the driver stopped the car in time and avoided a traffic accident.
司机及时停车，才避免了一起交通事故。= 幸亏司机及时停车，才避免了一起交通事故。= We did not involve in the accident only because the driver stopped the vehicle in time.
幸亏--，才--，= It is only because -- that --. This is a very popular sentence structure. Sometimes people just omit 幸亏 for short.
You may also use 多亏 ··· 才··· together
多亏司机及时停车，才避免了一起交通事故。
Thanks to the driver's timely halt, a traffic accident was averted.
多亏她，我才抱住性命。
Thanks to her, I am still alive.
