Upstate New York .... every Spring, there is a plaque of potholes.
Something about blacktop on top of old brick streets ... ?
In bright sun with sunglasses on, that shadow might nicely camouflage a 6" deep crater.
After or during a light rain that puddle or wet spot might be capable of chewing up your front wheel and you.

The drainage grates, on the sides of the streets, are often pounded down deep enough to hide baseballs or softballs ... so I do try to maintain a roving awareness of all street conditions.
I did drop into a 4" deep sunken manhole cover ... it was right on the edge of a trees shadow and I barely had time to pull some weight off my front wheel.
Hit hard, stopped checked my wheel, spokes and fillings, everything seemed OK. Continued on to the post office, torqued the pedals going up the access ramp and heard a prolonged "sproing" ... broke 8 spokes ! ... ???

With all these hazards ... I was finally taken out by a newbie cyclist on a pink 24"er with matching helmet and elbow pads (tassels on the hand grips).
She was doing circles and 8's in the corner groceries parking lot ... almost ran into her popping out from behind a car.
Well I exited the parking, lot accelerated to cruising speed, noticed the girl nearing a 2nd parking lot exit ...
hesitated ...
felt relieved as she looked directly at me, making eye contact ...
she was angled to merge on the street, so I moved towards street center to give her plenty of leeway ...
she pulled in parallel and nicely ahead of me, but then made a sharp left for the opposing driveway!
OOOHSHI...
Hit my brakes hard ...
brakes not good enough ...
Slo Mo ... within about 1' of T-boning I jack-knifed my front wheel and dove over her.
Missed her ... went arms and face into the blacktop ... helmet and sunglasses took most of the damage (small scar on cheek).
Messed up my arms and right shoulder.
But learned some lessons!

After I mended a bit I began training for emergency stopping.
Just as important, I became almost religious about maintaining and testing my brakes.

Even rim brakes can supply substantial stopping power!
1st - True-up your wheels
2nd - replace pads if uneven or worn near "tread depth"
3rd - adjust pads almost tight and evenly to wheel

I also developed a degree of paranoia ... but was able to accept it as a type of challenge, somewhat akin to a video game ... where I must traverse a maze while avoiding traps and monsters.
I like video games!