It seemed like a good idea at the time.
However, a man who claimed to be from the Sunshine Coast is now regretting his boozy decision to stow away under a truck instead of taking a cab, after arriving almost 400km away in a different state.
The 43-year-old had a “bit to drink” in Nambucca Heads when he came up with a unique plan for the 50km journey to Coffs Harbour in northern NSW, usually a half-hour drive.
Instead of organising an Uber or calling a cab, the man decided to climb into the undercarriage of a stationary double semi-trailer as truck driver Pardeep Dahiya slept.
The man crawled onto metal racks beneath the truck that were barely a metre from the ground.
He aimed to get out when the vehicle stopped at a red light at Coffs Harbour.
However, when Mr Dahiya awoke he proceeded to have one of the great green-light runs truck drivers enjoy.
He did not stop until he had reached the Gold Coast, about four hours later.
The truck driver had noticed something under his B-double trailer’s carriage before finally pulling over on the Queensland tourist strip.
To his surprise the 43-year-old climbed out from underneath.
“It’s very new for me,” Mr Dahiya told ABC Radio.
When police arrived, the stowaway can be heard telling officers: “I’m really stressed out, I had a bit to drink.”
The man tells them he is from the Sunshine Coast but had travelled from Coffs Harbour after he “got a lift with a truck driver”.
“You’ve had a big session, lost all control, ended up here somehow and now you’ve got to try and work your way back?” an officer asks.
“Pretty much,” the man replies.
“Well, that’s a good session,” the officer said.
The officers look stunned when the man tells them he travelled in the truck’s undercarriage.
“So you are actually underneath the truck, going 110km/h or whatever – no wonder you are anxious, you’re not allowed to do that,” an officer said.
Another officer can be heard laughing when the man explains that he hoped to jump out at Coffs Harbour but the truck driver “got a green light the whole way through and never stopped until here”.
“So you’ve been under that truck since Coffs Harbour?” the officer asks.
“Just stupidity to be honest with you,” the man replies.
The officer adds: “You were a foot off the road, it is extraordinarily dangerous.”
The man was fined $288.
“Police then transported the male to the Coomera railway station for the long trip back south,” a police statement said.
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