I'm driving up 99W toward home in a large truck, like my old Bronco. It's a little bit snowy and slippery, but in my truck I can manage it.

I pass two girls, each of whose cars are stuck in snow in the ditch. As I pass, they beckon as though desperate for help. Stopping to help them hadn't occurred to me until that point, but then I slow and look in my rear-view mirror, considering whether I can pull them out or something.

Just then a police car enters my view to the side, and then clips me, bumping the driver-side rear corner of my truck. He stops and we both get out. He seems embarrassed and sort of awkward about it. Obviously it's his fault, and he knows that, but in some hesitant way he's trying to get me to take the blame. I assert without doubt that it was his fault because he hit me from behind, and he says he knows that, but don't I know why it happened? Of course, I say, I slowed down at an odd spot because I was looking back to see if I could help those girls, but it doesn't matter, he should have allowed enough space for me to slow down unexpectedly.