The man rubbed his forehead, clearly exhausted, and let out a long sigh.
“Officer,” he said, pointing down the road, “I was already on my half… she just kept following me onto it.”
The officer blinked. “What do you mean?”
The man gestured behind him. “Every time I steered to the right to avoid her, she did the exact same thing. I moved more to the edge—she moved more to the edge. I even slowed down, thinking she’d pass—but no, she slowed down too! It was like we were synchronized!
The officer tried to stay professional, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He walked back to the elderly woman.
“Ma’am,” he said gently, “can you tell me exactly what happened?”
She nodded firmly. “Of course. I was driving properly on my side of the road when I saw him coming straight at me. I thought, ‘Well, he must be confused,’ so I moved over to give him space. And what did he do? He followed me!”
The officer raised an eyebrow. “You moved to the right?”
“Yes!”
“And then?”
“Well, he kept coming, so I moved even more to the right! I practically ended up in the ditch trying to give him his half!”
The officer paused, then asked carefully, “Ma’am… did you happen to notice which side of the road you started on?”
She looked at him, confused. “My side, of course!”
The officer took a deep breath and glanced down the road, then back at her.
“Ma’am… this road follows right-hand driving rules.”
She stared at him for a moment. Then her eyes widened slightly.
“Oh,” she said softly. “So… my half… was the other half?”
The officer nodded.
There was a long silence before she sighed and shook her head.
“Well,” she said, “no wonder we couldn’t agree.”
The officer walked back to the man, who was now leaning against his car, arms crossed.
“So?” the man asked.
The officer smiled. “Let’s just say… you were both trying very hard to be polite.”
The man looked confused. “Polite? She nearly ran me off the road!”
“Exactly,” the officer replied. “You both did.”
For a moment, the man stared at him—then burst out laughing.
A few minutes later, even the elderly woman joined in, chuckling at the misunderstanding.
Sometimes, the officer thought as he finished his report, accidents aren’t caused by bad intentions…
Just by two people trying to do the “right” thing—on the wrong side.