German drives down subway stairs

serious, weird or whatever - it's up to you
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Lostinthestates
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German drives down subway stairs

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The VW Beetle-Cabrio took a wrong turn A German woman in Dusseldorf blocked the entrance to an underground station when she mistook it for a subterranean car park, police said on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old drove her Volkswagen Beetle across the pavement and into the entrance, where it came to a halt five steps down.

Police estimated the damage to the station at around 1,500 euros (£1,000).

The VW Beetle-Cabrio remained balanced on the fifth step and the woman was able to get out unaided and unharmed.

The accident happened in the Nordstrasse underground station, in the centre of Dusseldorf.

A truck later towed the car out of the stairwell.

A local newspaper said the woman was more shocked and embarrassed than hurt.

A similar incident happened four years ago in the same underground station, when a 50-year-old man from Dortmund also mistook it for an underground car park.

Andrea Blome, head of Traffic Management in Dusseldorf said: "We had only recently transformed the entrance to the station".

She said the stairwell had been painted a brighter colour and extra lighting had been installed.

But she said no further changes were planned following the latest incident, and that the station was not considered dangerous.
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I think she might be a bit blond too :D
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Skylace
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Post by Skylace »

I am glad no one was hurt, except for the woman's pride.
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Lostinthestates
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Post by Lostinthestates »

Skylace wrote:I am glad no one was hurt, except for the woman's pride.
Yeah ... it could have ended much more serious! As it is she only made herself look a bit stupid - I guess she can life with that.. Still can't quite see how you could mistake a subway entrance to an underground parking entrance?
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Skylace
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Post by Skylace »

Lostinthestates wrote:
Skylace wrote:I am glad no one was hurt, except for the woman's pride.
Yeah ... it could have ended much more serious! As it is she only made herself look a bit stupid - I guess she can life with that.. Still can't quite see how you could mistake a subway entrance to an underground parking entrance?
Trying to figure that out myself. Especially since it's been done more then once. Maybe it has to do with the location of it.
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Marcella-FL
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Post by Marcella-FL »

Have you seen the carparks and UBahn entrances in Germany? I could see the mistake being made quite easily especially if you weren't super familiar with the area. There is so much construction going on in the major cities that it would be easy to get confused ... Don't you think BZ?
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faceless Online
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Post by faceless »

Here's one that looks like it's in Paris, but I reckon it was probably something similar...
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Lostinthestates
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Post by Lostinthestates »

But there is no street! Why would you stear onto the pavement and into a tube station?
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SpursFan1902
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Post by SpursFan1902 »

Marcella-FL wrote:Have you seen the carparks and UBahn entrances in Germany? I could see the mistake being made quite easily especially if you weren't super familiar with the area. There is so much construction going on in the major cities that it would be easy to get confused ... Don't you think BZ?
My thoughts exactly. We even had to put a passenger van into an elevator to get it to a parking lot! Since it has been done before, you would think maybe a sign might be in order "Dieses ist nicht eine Tiefgarage. Dieses ist eine UBahn Station. Fahren Sie nicht." (Gotta love Babel Fish - makes me look like I know German
:shhh: )
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eefanincan
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Post by eefanincan »

Lostinthestates wrote:
Skylace wrote:I am glad no one was hurt, except for the woman's pride.
Yeah ... it could have ended much more serious! As it is she only made herself look a bit stupid - I guess she can life with that.. Still can't quite see how you could mistake a subway entrance to an underground parking entrance?
It's kind of like that post a few days back where the woman drove into a pond because she mistook it for a puddle. Sad, sad, sad.
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Mandy
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Post by Mandy »

If it happened twice in same location, then they should put a dividing bollard in the middle .. this could even help to separate the up & down traffic.
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