It is late at night. A policeman is driving through a small town. He isn’t driving a police car. He left it in front of the police station, He is driving his own car. There is a traffic light in front of him. It is red, so he stops. He checks his phone. It is twelve o’clock. He will be at home in time to go to bed with his wife. She never goes to bed before midnight. And she is used to him coming home late at night. He waits for the red light to change to green. He thinks it should be green by now. He waits a little longer. It is still red. He looks into the mirror. There is no car behind him. He looks around. There is nobody on the streets. There are no other cars at this crossroads. There are no cars coming from the left or from the right. He waits a little longer. It is still red. He thinks the traffic light is not working properly. But he cannot run a red light. He is a policeman! He has to show how it is done. He waits another few minutes. By now, he is sure the light is broken. He decides to stay. He doesn’t want to be in the news tomorrow. He doesn’t want to lose his job. He calls a number.
The traffic operator picks up the phone.
“Where is it?.. Ah, yes, we know about it. In fact, we are going to switch it off right now… I am glad you are calling at least you can tell me if it is off… Is it off?… Good… Thanks for calling.”
He switches on the engine. He is on the main road so he doesn’t have to give right of way. In minutes, he will be with his lovely wife. He is glad he didn’t have to break the rules. He drives carefully through the crossroads.
Just then, a drunk driver, in an unlit very fast car, drives into his.
Originally posted 2020-06-05 06:02:00.