DNA replication machineries tend to stall when confronted with damaged DNA template sites, causing the biochemical equivalent of a major 'train wreck'. A newly discovered bacterial DNA polymerase, Escherichia coli Pol V, acting in conjunction with the RecA protein, can exchange places with the stalled replicative Pol III core and catalyse 'error-prone' translesion synthesis. In contrast to Pol V-catalysed 'brute-force, sloppier copying', another SOS-induced DNA polymerase, Pol II, plays a pivotal role in an 'error-free', replication-restart DNA repair pathway and probably involves RecA-mediated homologous recombination.