An elderly woman drove into the back end of a Bainbridge Island police car at a traffic light on Highway 305 Tuesday, Dec. 10.

“The officer was stopped at the light and the lady struck him,” said Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matthew Hamner. “Didn’t stop in time.”

The woman, an 89-year-old Bainbridge Island resident, was driving on Highway 305 around noon Tuesday when she made contact with the back end of the police cruiser at the Sportsman Club Road intersection. The woman’s car was likely totaled, Hamner explained, and her airbags deployed.

“It happens to all of us,” said Hamner. “I told her, she felt very bad, I said, ‘Look, it’s an accident. That’s why they call them accidents.’”

No immediate injuries were reported, though the airbags could cause a delayed injury, Hamner said.