Retired man abandoned on Autobahn
- added July 18, 2008
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- JanaPokana
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A 69-year-old retiree was found wandering on the autobahn, forced to leave a bus during a "free" excursion that turned out not to be gratis. The old man argued over a surprise three-euro charge, and the driver, he says, left him behind.
"The trip was supposed to be free," said Rainer H., who started walking home on the autobahn after a day trip to Berlin ended badly.
German police are investigating a tour bus company after a retired man from Dresden was found wandering on a highway outside Berlin. Autobahn police found Rainer H., 69, after he'd walked 12 kilometers back toward home along the A13 in the eastern state of Brandenburg. He said a tour bus driver had forced him to leave the bus after an argument over three euros.
"We are investigating the driver and we're looking at legal steps to take against the bus company," Thomas Wilde, police chief of the regional office in Königs Wusterhausen, told the mass-circulation daily BILD Zeitung.
It's common in Germany for tour companies to offer "coffee trips," or cost-free day trips, to retirees who want a short excursion into big cities like Berlin. These trips tend to include some sort of sales pitch. Rainer H. received an invitation in the mail for a free shopping trip to Berlin in a "luxury bus."
Everything went well, he said, until the driver pulled into a rest area. After a break, "when we climbed back into the bus," he told the newspaper, "(the driver) asked, 'Does everyone have 3 euros? I just need to collect that.'" Rainer H. stood on principle. "I said I had no money with me. Besides, the trip was supposed to be free."
The driver let him back on the bus, but later in the trip he pulled off the autobahn and told Rainer H. to leave. Suddenly the old man was alone. "I walked back up to the autobahn, because that way I could orient myself," he said. The police found him only after he'd walked 12 kilometers toward Dresden.
"On these tours passengers are often put under pressure," Renate Janeczek, who works at a consumer protection agency, told the paper. "But getting thrown out of a bus is the low point."
"The trip was supposed to be free," said Rainer H., who started walking home on the autobahn after a day trip to Berlin ended badly.
German police are investigating a tour bus company after a retired man from Dresden was found wandering on a highway outside Berlin. Autobahn police found Rainer H., 69, after he'd walked 12 kilometers back toward home along the A13 in the eastern state of Brandenburg. He said a tour bus driver had forced him to leave the bus after an argument over three euros.
"We are investigating the driver and we're looking at legal steps to take against the bus company," Thomas Wilde, police chief of the regional office in Königs Wusterhausen, told the mass-circulation daily BILD Zeitung.
It's common in Germany for tour companies to offer "coffee trips," or cost-free day trips, to retirees who want a short excursion into big cities like Berlin. These trips tend to include some sort of sales pitch. Rainer H. received an invitation in the mail for a free shopping trip to Berlin in a "luxury bus."
Everything went well, he said, until the driver pulled into a rest area. After a break, "when we climbed back into the bus," he told the newspaper, "(the driver) asked, 'Does everyone have 3 euros? I just need to collect that.'" Rainer H. stood on principle. "I said I had no money with me. Besides, the trip was supposed to be free."
The driver let him back on the bus, but later in the trip he pulled off the autobahn and told Rainer H. to leave. Suddenly the old man was alone. "I walked back up to the autobahn, because that way I could orient myself," he said. The police found him only after he'd walked 12 kilometers toward Dresden.
"On these tours passengers are often put under pressure," Renate Janeczek, who works at a consumer protection agency, told the paper. "But getting thrown out of a bus is the low point."
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- JanaPokana
- 1 month ago
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