An Australian man who opted to sneak a ride beneath a tractor trailer rather than pay the cab fare for a 25 mile ride, is lucky to be alive.
The 43-year-old man, believed to be intoxicated, was planning to the New South Wales coast but ended up on the Gold Coast, according to ABC News, Australia.
The driver of the rig discovered the stow away when he glanced in his rear view mirror and noticed “a piece of orange cloth” under his trailer.” He pulled over at the nearest emergency stopping area to find the man climbing out from the gate racks stored in the trailer’s underside.
Rather than call the police, the driver took pity on the man and offered to let him ride in the cab with him. He reconsidered, however, when the conversation became strained.
Instead of a free ride home, he hitcher ended up at a police station nearly 250 miles away, where he was fined $288 and and a free list to the railway station for the trip back home.