How Can You Pass the Tree

A car is on a narrow road with a tree in the middle of it. How can the car pass the tree?

The tree is in the middle of the road as measured by length, not in the middle of it by width. In other words, the tree is growing on the side of the road, but it is equidistant from either end of the road, and therefore in the middle.

This makes it quite easy to pass the tree as you just drive on the road, unless you’re texting and you run into said tree. If this is the case, stop texting.

Thanks to everyone’s input on this one!

Posted in Brain Teasers

 

15 Comments on "How Can You Pass the Tree"


Becky says
January 31, 2014 @ 06:49

The tree could be in the middle of the length of the road as opposed to the width in which case the car would just drive right passed it unaffected


Dan says
February 3, 2014 @ 14:10

That’s a good idea Becky. However, if it’s a narrow road and the tree is in the middle it still seems like it would block the car, unless the tree is tiny, but if it were tiny, it wouldn’t matter which middle of the road it was in, the car could still pass by it. I’m hoping there’s a better answer, because a tiny tree seems silly :)

Maybe the answer is the tree is painted on the asphalt. I’m not sure why one would be painted on the road. Has anyone seen a tree painted on the road?


nadeem leigh says
February 8, 2014 @ 22:08

Who said the tree was in the middle of the road. It says a car is on a narrow road with a tree in the middle of it. This could mean the tree is in the middle of the car…..a sapling perhaps, on the middle back seat. This means the tree can easily be placed outside of the car…and driven past.


Dan says
February 8, 2014 @ 22:37

Nadeem: I agree, the antecedent of the pronoun “it” could be the road or the car. However, placing a tree from your car on the road and driving past it only makes sense to satisfy passing it. I am hoping to find an answer that makes sense in a grander scheme than just the context of the riddle. I just thought of a solution that adds on to yours – the person plants the tree, then drives off. I’ll give this one a few more days and if we don’t come up with anything better, I’m going with it. Thanks for contributing your brainpower!


becky says
February 14, 2014 @ 10:21

the tree could be along side the road but in the middle of the lenth of the road, is what i was implying. The car could then pass by unaffected? without the tree being tiny


Alan says
February 25, 2014 @ 00:19

Perhaps the tree is a Christmas tree on the roof of the car in front. The car with the Christmas tree pulls over a little further up the road (where the road is wider) and the following car passes it.


tom crews says
February 25, 2014 @ 17:44

hey ya!ll he takes a detour.


scottyo42 says
March 26, 2014 @ 17:04

It was a dwarf willow tree growing in between a crack in the middle of the road. U could “pass” over it. Or what if it was a skinny tree that you can just stay on the road and pass it?


scottyo42 says
March 26, 2014 @ 17:10

I think Becky got it right. The tree is in the middle , the halfway point of the entire road but off to the side.


Herkimer Hermolga says
April 4, 2014 @ 21:06

It doesn’t say the tree is alive, the car could drive over a fallen tree


Dan says
April 6, 2014 @ 12:48

True, if it were a very small tree.


Corbin says
April 15, 2014 @ 22:53

It didn’t specify how big the car was… Could be a smart car, or remote controlled car in that case.


Jerry says
May 4, 2014 @ 00:18

It’s a pedal car.


kayk says
May 4, 2014 @ 12:33

the tree is not the same width and length of the road


Dawn says
July 4, 2016 @ 21:45

Has anyone heard of a MEDIAN?
:)

The tree is in the median.


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