Trabant against the Staaken barrier
A 38-year-old driver tried to force his Trabant through the Staaken crossing but crashed into a heavy barrier at the passport control line.

Shortly after midnight on 2 June 1984 a 38-year-old professional driver from Schönwalde, in the Nauen district near Potsdam, drove his Trabant into the Staaken crossing at about 70 km/h.
The alarm went off as soon as he entered. At the passport control line the car hit a crash barrier of the 'Heinrich-Heine-Straße' type and came to a stop.
The driver was badly injured and arrested.
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