Drunk Man Looking for Free Ride Stows Away Underneath Truck Trailer, Takes Unexpected Journey for More Than 200 Miles
(Photo: Josiah Farrow/Unsplash)
Last Friday, early in the morning an allegedly drunk man was reported to have climbed under a truck trailer in hopes of getting a free ride home. Rather than the planned 25 mile journey from Nambucca Heads in New South Wales to Coffs Harbour, the stowaway ended up traveling over 200 miles up to the Gold Coast underneath the trailer presumably hanging on for the entirety of the journey.
The 43-year-old reportedly did not want to pay for a taxi and instead crawled onto a metal rack suspended beneath the truck. The man expected he would be able to climb out at a red light. However, the driver Pardeep Dahiya was only making a brief stop in Nambucca Heads before continuing on his route all the way to Brisbane in Queensland, a nearly 300 mile drive.
Dahiya did not notice the hidden hitchhiker until the sun started to come up.
“When it started to get light, I could see in my mirrors a piece of orange cloth under my trailer,” he told ABC News. I knew it wasn’t coming from inside the trailer. It was coming from underneath the trailer.”
The man traveled underneath the truck trailer for roughly 215 miles before being noticed.
Dahiya found an emergency stop area near Tugun in Queensland and went to see what was under his truck. At this point, the man clambered out from the metal racks.
“When I saw that I took two steps back thinking, ‘What is it?’,” Dahiya said. “Then he said to me, ‘Sorry. Sorry, man. It’s my mistake. I came in under the trailer.’”
Dahiya continued “That’s very different for me. It’s very new for me. I can’t imagine anyone getting in underneath the trailer.”
The truck driver considered calling the police immediately but reconsidered and gave the man some water and allowed him to ride upfront to head further north.
Eventually, Dahiya changed his mind and decided to contact the police.
“The truckie had a good run. Old mate did not,” Acting Inspector Peter Miles said.
The man was fined AU$288 (about US$190) for being in part of a vehicle not designed to carry people and with no safety harness. Police dropped the stowaway at the Coomera railway station to make his way back home. Experts said the man was lucky to be alive.
This is one way to avoid a drunk driving ticket but he may want to consider a safer, more reliable option next time.
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