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HGV driver who took meal break on hard shoulder while sat on folded chair avoids fine

Police officers in the west of Germany recently came across a lorry driver who had prepared dinner on the hard shoulder of the autobahn while casually sat on a folding chair. Surprisingly, the officers didn't fine the driver, merely deciding to “educate" him by having a word and asking him to move on.

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Pölös Zsófia

Pölös Zsófia

Journalist Trans.info

|

31.03.2023

The trucker was spotted by officers on the evening of March 30th during a routine roadside check.

Police from the Gau-Bickelheim Autobahn Police Station saw a HGV parked on the hard shoulder of the A61 motorway in the direction of Ludwigshafen. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officers then saw the vehicle’s 32-year-old driver sitting on a folding chair beside his vehicle, after having prepared his dinner.

Following a brief conversation about the prohibition of parking on the hard shoulder, the officers had to interrupt the driver’s break and demand that he continue his journey.

The German police stress that parking on the stop lane of the hard shoulder is only allowed in an emergency, and persons must also retreat behind the barrier.

The driver was arguably lucky to have been spotted by some police officers who take a more lenient approach. There are numerous examples of lorry drivers taking breaks on the hard shoulder in other European countries, only to be on the end of some police fines.

In almost identical case in France in August 2022, a trucker from Spain was fined for cooking dinner while parked on the hard shoulder. More recently, road police operating in the Manchester area and other regions have also been fining drivers for hard shoulder toilet breaks.

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