Photo: René Mettke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)

Crane helps rescue lorry after driver’s emergency toilet stop

A 36-year-old truck driver who parked his vehicle on the hard shoulder of the A73 for an emergency toilet stop ended up in hot bother after his vehicle slumped into a ditch and had to be lifted out by a crane. He is due to be fined for parking at the side of the motorway, and will also have to pick up the tab for the civil cost of the accident he created.

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The incident occurred near Eggolsheim in the Forchheim district on Thursday morning.

According to the police, the driver parked the lorry with its front wheels on the edge of a grassy ridge at the side of the motorway.

As the area had been subject to a lot of rainfall in the days beforehand, the ground was very soft. That caused the heavy lorry to slip down into the bank and get stuck.

After the driver had relieved himself, he tried to reverse his vehicle back onto the hard shoulder. His attempts were nonetheless unsuccessful, and motorists soon called in the police to deal with matter.

The police then ordered a rescue service, who had to use a crane to recover the truck. The motorway had to be closed for an hour while the recovery was taking place.

“The driver can expect a fine for illegal parking on the motorway and to bear the civil costs,” says the German press association report on the incident.


Photo: René Mettke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)