Holidaymakers in Germany who are inclined to clean up apparently lost traffic cones, better refrain from doing so. They were placed there on purpose by emergency services.
Several German fire brigades warn about this on social media. “If you see a fallen traffic cone at a fork or at an intersection in the forest or on country roads, leave it there,” the Königs Wusterhausen fire brigade wrote on Facebook last week. A photo of a fallen traffic cone was also shown. “It is also forbidden to put them upright,” said the fire brigade.
Signpost for emergency services
The signal cone serves as a signpost for emergency services. In this way, firefighters or other emergency workers in the forest or in the field can find the place of a possible emergency more quickly. “Certainly at this time, now that the fields and forests are extremely dry, rapid intervention by the emergency services is sometimes required,” said firefighter Sebastian Gellrich, who was the first to post the message on the internet.
‘Evolved over the years’
The original message has already been read by hundreds of thousands of people. “We place them pointing in the direction of travel,” Gellrich told the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung. “Then the emergency services following immediately know where to go.” The system has evolved over the years because it just works. “Each vehicle has such a cone. That often works better than all kinds of technical equipment,” says Gellrich.
More special rules
It is not the only peculiarity in German traffic. In Germany, for example, you can drive as fast as you want in many places, but if you run out of fuel on the highway, you face a hefty fine – sometimes even a driving ban. Other countries also have their quirks. In Britain, anyone who wets pedestrians or cyclists by driving through a puddle risks a fine of £100 to £5,000, plus three penalty points on their licence.
Driving with flip flops
In Spain you can be fined if you drive with flip flops or stick an arm or other body part out of the window. But the strangest rule is the ban on wearing anything that covers your ears, be it a hat or headphones. And in Denmark, before driving off, motorists are required to check the underside of their car ‘to make sure no children are sleeping under it’.
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