It is often said that you can learn a lot about a culture by the words their language contains. For example, Eskimos must live some place cold, because they have 42 words for snow. If you move to Germany you will often hear the word Geisterfahrer on the radio and think to yourself, “what the heck is a ghost rider?”, imagining your childhood spent with friends jumping off of bicycles in motion and seeing how far they could make it before falling over or crashing into the neighbor’s car. No, Germans don’t jump out of their moving vehicles, they drive the wrong way down the street, and they do it so often that they have a word for it.
This is especially peculiar because Germany is the last place you would expect people to drive so atrociously for the following reasons:
- You are not allowed to talk on your cell phone while driving. You are legally obliged to pay attention to what you are doing on German roads. Germans don’t even eat in their car; they don’t care about cup holders, the most important feature in an American car.
- There are major hoops to jump through to attain the right to drive in Germany. You have to take tests, pay thousands of dollars, spend hours and hours in driving school, and you still have ridiculous restrictions like not being allowed to drive a stick shift if your practical test was performed in a car with an automatic transmission.
- Old people have alternative ways to get around. In America, reaching the age where your abilities to drive safely means losing your independence because of the general lack of public transportation, therefore most elderly here never admit to reaching this point. In Germany the elderly can take the train.
- They mark every road with an arrow to designate exactly where you are supposed to drive. This system is idiot proof. You point your car where the little white arrow points.
Despite having absolutely no reason for distracted or confused drivers, you will encounter a Geisterfahrer at some point if you live in Germany long enough. It will scare you.
deutsche Übersetzung für Astrid Einblenden
Haudi Astrid,hier die Übersetzung:
Deutsche fahren in die falsche Richtung
Es wird oft gesagt, dass man durch die Wörter, die eine Sprache enthält, viel über eine Kultur lernen kann. Zum Beispiel müssen Eskimos an einem kalten Ort leben, weil sie 42 Wörter für Schnee haben. Wenn Sie nach Deutschland ziehen, werden Sie oft das Wort Geisterfahrer im Radio hören und sich denken „Was zum Teufel ist ein Geisterfahrer?“, und sich vorstellen, wie Sie ihre Kindheit damit verbracht haben, mit ihren Freunden von fahrenden Fahrrädern zu springen, um zu sehen, wie weit sie es schaffen, bevor sie krachend umfallen oder ins Auto des Nachbarn prallen. Nein, die Deutschen springen nicht aus ihren fahrenden Autos, sie befahren eine Straße in der falschen Richtung, und sie tun es so oft, dass sie sogar ein Wort dafür haben.
Dies ist besonders eigenartig, weil Deutschland aus folgenden Gründen der letzte Ort ist, von dem Sie erwarten würden, dass die Leute dort so grausam fahren:
- Sie dürfen während des Fahrens nicht mit dem Handy telefonieren. Sie sind gesetzlich dazu verpflichtet, aufzupassen, was Sie auf deutschen Straßen machen. Die Deutschen essen nicht einmal in ihrem Auto; sie machen sich nichts aus Becherhaltern, dem wichtigsten Teil in einem amerikanischen Auto.
- Es gibt einige große Reifen, durch die man springen muss, um das Recht zugeteilt zu bekommen, in Deutschland Auto fahren zu dürfen. Sie müssen Tests absolvieren, Tausende von Dollars bezahlen, unzählige Stunden in der Fahrschule verbringen und es gibt dann immer noch lächerliche Einschränkungen, wie zum Beispiel, dass Sie nicht manuelle Gangschaltung fahren dürfen, wenn die praktische Prüfung mit einem Automatik-Wagen stattgefunden hat.
- Alte Menschen haben alternative Mittel zur Fortbewegung. Wenn in Amerika das Alter erreicht wird, in dem man die Fähigkeit verliert, sicher zu fahren, heißt das auch, dass man durch den generellen Mangel an öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln seine Unabhängigkeit verliert, deshalb geben die meisten alten Menschen es hier nie zu, wenn sie dieses Alter erreicht haben. In Deutschland können die Alten die Bahn nehmen.
- Sie markieren jede Straße mit einem Pfeil, um genau zu kennzeichnen, wo Sie fahren sollten. Dieses System ist idiotensicher. Sie richten ihr Auto dorthin, wo der kleine weiße Pfeil hinzeigt.
Obwohl es absolut keinen Grund für abgelenkte oder verwirrte Fahrer gibt, werden Sie an einem Punkt sicherlich einem Geisterfahrer begegnen, wenn Sie lange genug in Deutschland leben. Es wird Ihnen Angst einjagen.
Gruss,
John
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August 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
“For example, Eskimos must live some place cold, because they have 42 words for snow.”
No, they don’t.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I know, but that’s still what people say.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
The British solved the Geisterfahrer-problem by switching to the Geisterfahrer’s prefered driving-direction!
August 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Ahh, cupholders … a caffeine-addicted driver’s wet dream. True, most cars now have something to put your cup in but it doesn’t compare to the real cup holder (the one that actually prevents your coffee from spilling all over your feet in a left turn)
August 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Yes you are right, but most often the Geisterfahrer are British tourists which want to test the German Autobahn in a rented Porsche or Mercedes SLK
August 4th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I was on a german “Autobahn” recently and all the cars drove in the wrong direction. On the radio they just talked of one “Geisterfahrer”, but that was total [bullcrap], i can tell you.
=)
Editor’s note: We aren’t offended by old, recycled jokes, but the dirty words do bother us.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
We even have two words for that. Nowadays the radio always uses “Falschfahrer” instead of “Geisterfahrer”…
August 4th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Here in Austria we have the same problems with Geisterfahrer - there’s never a minute that you don’t hear them chime in on the radio with an urgent announcement regarding some Geisterfahrer. It happens several times a day.
My theory for this is very simple, and something that I’ve noticed in Germany as well. In the U.S., “Do not enter” signs are clearly and conspicuously located on both sides of the entry to one way streets. Here in Germany and Austria however, the sign is located only on one side of a one way street and there’s no sign on the main street to tell you that an upcoming intersecting street should not be entered. I myself have mistakingly turned into one way streets, only to realize my error, which meant that I had to quickly turn back out while hoping that the driver behind me is not driving too close. You only see the “no entry” sign AFTER you attempt to turn into a one-way street, not BEFORE.
Combine this with nighttime driving and drunk drivers and voilá, you have a recipe for disaster, or as they call it here, ein Geisterfahrer!
August 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
“This system is idiot proof.”
Idiot proof systems don’t take into account the ingenuity of idiots
August 5th, 2008 at 4:33 am
In Canada and I think also in the US I saw junctions with 4 stop sings. What the hell ist that for? A stop sign for every direction. Who’s driving first?
August 5th, 2008 at 5:57 am
@TM: This is quite obvious - the one who reaches the junction first. Anyway, this also requires drivers to pay attention to the surrounding traffic. Mostly drivers rely only on the road signs - could be the wrong approach because the one who doesn’t obey these signs can cause havoc on the streets
August 5th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Don’t get me started on the “4-way stop”. That’s probably the most annoying thing you can find on US roads. It’s a necessity in the US because they couldn’t come up with the concept of a Vorfahrtsstraße (again, another word that doesn’t have a translation).
Btw, at a 4-way stop the driver who reached the intersection first has the right of way. Try to keep track of who’s first when there are 5 cars backed up on every side… I usually just go when I feel like I have stopped enough.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Consider that
1) most ‘Geisterfahrer’ turn out to be elderly, confused men with a hat on their head and a ‘gehäkelter Klorollenbezug’ on the back shelf.
2) German population is getting older and older.
It’s just a natural reaction of media to make up words that describe trends (like digitalization or inline skates). They do so to protect us, the young (and the kind of drivers Curtis described above), from frontally hitting a deranged old man on the wrong lane. Thank you, ‘Geisterfahrer’!
August 5th, 2008 at 6:30 am
“A stop sign for every direction. Who’s driving first?”
The car the reaches the intersection first is allowed to proceed first. If both (or even three) arrive at the same time, the car to the right goes first. Obviously, if they arrive at opposite sides, it shouldn’t matter. Unless one is turning. Then, the one going straight proceeds first.
If four cars arrive at the same time (a rare event, but I’ve seen it), you get to watch some comical lurching and hesitating, as each driver attempts to figure out what to do. You may even get to watch a minor collision, as they simultaneously come to the same decision to drive ahead.
This particular sign arrangement is supposed to make life easier for pedestrians, not cars, so you often see it in neighbourhoods.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:57 am
whenever you design an idiot proof system, somebody designs a better idiot…
that has always been the case…
August 5th, 2008 at 6:58 am
“In Canada and I think also in the US I saw junctions with 4 stop sings. What the hell ist that for? A stop sign for every direction. Who’s driving first?”
As far as I know, the US and Canada use a first come, first serve system.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:08 am
@T.M. First come first served. Works increadibly well.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am
The four-way-stop-junctions would never be possible in Germany, since everybody would insist “I was there first - didn’t you see it?!”
I was very puzzled when I encountered my first 4-way-stop-junction in the US and realized that it actually works pretty well - in fact my experience was that actually all cars would stop and think “the other one must have been here first” instead of using the good old German “me first” strategy.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Not the main topic:
The first years i used a cell phone, i thought there is not much danger using it while driving. Then i got a hands-free speaking system. After a while i had to drive a car without this and i was astonished how hindering a cell phone in the hand can be. Especially if you already need several hands - one for the steering-wheel, one for the gearshift lever, one for the cup of coffee, one for the cigarette and maybe one for the co-driver. ;o)
That’s why i love my car with automatic transmission, automatic speed control, cup holder and upgraded with hands-free speaking system. Handling the steering wheel with my knee and talking free, i have hands enough for the really important things (coffee, cigarette or co-driver). :o)
August 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Cars in Germany don’t have cupholders?How come?
I have been in the US for the past 10 years,and I know germans had no cupholders then,but for some strange reason,I thought
they have caught up by now.
Maybe it is because of the lack of sophisticated travel mugs?
And no more Soda cans?
There is a whole new industry waiting to be discovered!
Unemployed in
Germany? Start your own business as a travelmug maker.
I just recently bought a new car and what sold it to me were the illuminated cupholders along with the cooling glove compartment.
Mixxy
August 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
@Mixxy: Most German cars I’ve seen don’t have proper cupholders. If anything, they have slight circular depressions - they tell you where you can put your cup, but are no good at actually *holding* it in an upright position when the car is moving.
4-way stops: Easily the most confusing thing when I started driving in the U.S. Once you get used to it, it makes a lot of sense, though. I’m sure there would be fewer collisions if Germany adopted this system. That said, roundabouts are probably even better.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Due to the lack of a proper Drive-Thru Eating and Drinking System in Germany, there is no demand for proper Cupholders in Germany.
And what are people in the US called, when the drive in the wrong direction?
August 5th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
We don’t do it, so we don’t have a word for it.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
@ Thomas: Roundabouts are great. I started to otice them in TN in smaller neighborhoods. It made my day when I saw how confused some Americans were going in circles over and over again missing their exit each time.
I think the closest you can get to becoming a “Geisterfahrer” in the US are the turn lanes in the middle of the road in some states. It is kinda scary when you attempt a left turn having another car coming toward you trying to do the same but behind your car.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
4-way stops: In case that all directions have the same rights we just put NO sign there. Easy, isn’t it? :o)
August 5th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
@anomynous
I don’t drive thru nothing and still could not live without my cupholders.
Freshly brewed Jacobs Kroenung on my way to work
is a must.
And I sure won’t place my morning coffee between my thighs and squeeze to keep it from spilling!
Therefore I am endorsing cupholders for all Germans!
Mixxy
August 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Mixxy: I think most Germans drink their coffee at home or at the work place, the car isn’t our living room/kitchen (yet).
August 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Well actually german cars have a kind of cupholder, but mostly 2 not 10-20 like american cars. Most germans don’t eat and drink in theire cars ’cause they don’t want to ruin the interior with a badly handled burger, american cars look like crap anyway so it doesn’t matter if you dirt them up a little. The lack of cupholders ca also be explained by the fact that ALL GERMANS HATE F***ING CONVENIENCE.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Thanks Dent, you saved me from having to write that article.
And there’s no need to yell.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Cell phone while driving???
There is one natural enemy of naive, europeans who take a bicycle for covering all distances shorter than 10km in the US: small, midle-aged women, who can hardly look over their steering wheel, in f*****g large SUVs. While ‘driving’ they make phone calls, sip on Fivebucks coffees, sort their iPods and bawl at their children!
No wonder that there are hardly any cyclists on US roads — they have falen victim to the merciless law of natural road selection.
Luckily in Germany natural selection takes place on Autobahns while driving highways in the US is pretty boring — most of the time you can even relax while taking a highway! How boring!
August 5th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
“Geisterfahrer”–a daily occurrence at 17th and L Streets in the central business district of Washington, DC, and any place with reversible lanes. Most serious when lane changes are suspended on certain holidays but not others.
Since “Geisterfahring” happens so frequently and in so many different settings in more than 50 quite independent jurisdictions covering the USA, it’s no surprise that no single uniform term has been coined to cover all of America.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I thought about about cupholder issue all day long. And yes, I do have a job.
Besides the fact that Germans don’t enjoy convenience, and therefore despise cup holders
, maybe the just don’t travel long enough to be eating and drinking on the road.
The German perception of distance greatly differs from the American one. Commuting to and from work in the usa might easily take up to 90 minutes one way. I couldn’t possibly wait for
an hour and a half before I get my caffeine shot.
And while I am already writing about long commutes in metro areas, let’s talk about Washington DC.(this is for waswo)
I know that you can not possibly compare driving in DC to the rest of the 48.
For people who never been to our beloved capital, let me explain.
Before you ever even consider driving into DC, make sure you take at least 3 valiums and at a couple of prozacs.the medication will help you not to make any sense of DC’s ’strassenfuehrung’ and it will also make it easier for you to ignore the
Drivers behind you who will constantly blow their horns at you.
downtown DC’s streets start somewhere and usually end in front of a building.you
Would then have to find a way around that building to pick up the same street.
Never expect to go back the same way you came in, this is not possible.
And just when you thought you are on the correct street, watch out for 6ft deep potholes. You will loose your wheelcaps.
Buying a map for Washington DC is senseless. Only remember that each street name exists 4 times.
If you are looking for 17th street, please understand that there is a 17th street,northwest, a 17th street northeast, a 17th street southwest and a 17th street southeast.
3 out of the 4 choices will have you end up in DC’s ghettos.
Maybe you get your car jacked there and are now forced to do what you should have done from the start. Take the friggin Metro.
Schoenen Abend wuensch ich noch aus dem knallheissem Tennesse.
Mixxy
August 6th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Well, I know a german guy, who has no fuehrershine, but fivehundred legs, all in the wrong direction. Poor bastard.
A Geistergeher.
That gives it auch.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
A word about 4-way stop signs in the US. At least in my state, there is no official law that states that the car on the right has the right-of-way when more than one car approaches the intersection at the same time. This is merely customary.
Either way, it still blows my mind that a 4-way stop should confuse a German.
August 6th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
The four way stop is based on a principle that will not work in this country: Consideration rather than strict rules.
Thats why it is so confusing to Germans.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Actually we sorta have almost the same here in germany except for the stop signs.
i know a lot of crossings where there is no sign at all which means the person from your right is allowed to go first, but if there are 4 cars from each direction they just have to communicate to figure out whos driving first.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
There is a dutch town called Drachten, where they just got rid of all street signs, traffic-lights and pretty much everything else. Instead they used a concept called “shared space”, which, despite the fact that its pretty illogical, works pretty amazing.
http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/auto/verkehr/112044/Planer-schafft-alle-Verkehrsschilder-ab.html
German governments not only love rules, they also love to show that there are a lots of rules, therefore there are about 20 million signs on german streets and not all of them make sense:
http://www.rp-online.de/public/bildershowinline/aktuelles/auto/6878?skip=1&refback=/public/article/auto/verkehr/112044/Planer-schafft-alle-Verkehrsschilder-ab.html|article
August 6th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
hey john, you have no geisterfahrer? i think i read that nicole richie or some of those girls got charged guilty for being a geisterfahrer when she drove down the highway completely stoned.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:59 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-way_stop
“A malfunctioning traffic light would be considered as all-way stop until police or the repair crew arrives.”
No wonder that there were so many accidents during the power outage a few years back.
This wouldn’t happen in Germany, since we have backup signs at every traffic light, as can be seen here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Lünen_Zusatzampel_Motor_Aus.jpg
August 7th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
We laughed some weeks ago…
In the radio news, they said: “Danger, there is a couch lying on the A7″ Half an hour later, they said “Danger, there is a Geisterfahrer on the A7″. So we joked “Hey, he noticed that he lost his couch and made a U-turn to pick it up…” Next day in the newspaper we read that we were right…
August 8th, 2008 at 2:08 am
This blog entry is proreposterous! Many germans nowadays are fat enough to care about cupholders!
August 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
There is a connection between fat germans and cupholders??
Interesting…
Mixxy
August 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
No but there’s maybe a connection between too much convenience and fat people, btw “Spiegel online” reports that according to scientists in about 40 years every american will be fat
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,570662,00.html
August 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Really?wow,das darf ich dann ja sogar noch mit erleben,falls ich nicht vorher an nem herzinfarkt sterb oder so.
Ernsthaft,es gibt Unmengen von Amerikanern die sehr viel wert auf gesunde Ernaehrung und Sport legen und trotzdem die vielzitierte amerikanische bequemlichkeit nicht missen moechten.
Und irgendwo hab ich vor noch nicht allzu langer zeit gleich mehrere studien gelesen,das deutsche anscheinend inzwischen auch das eine oder andere pfund zugelegt haben und im ‘weltfettspiegel’ ziemlich weit oben schwimmen,und das ohne zuneigung zur bequemlichkeit und ohne cupholders.
Gruss Mixxy
(diesmal mit genialen 88F degrees bei strahlender Sonne und nur 40% humidity)
August 9th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Well, Geisterfahrer are even called Falschfahrer, but it can’t take lots of times until the Verein Deutsche Sprache e. V. will create a “better” word, arguing that a Geisterfahrer should be called “Fahrtrichtungs-Zuwiderhandler”, because this is a much better working word in a special german language, called Beamtendeutsch.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Wow, some people here should try to learn English before actually writing it. Just saying…
August 10th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Perhaps “Geisterfahrer” is called “Falschfahrer” now because the ghosts (who prefer to be called “spectral entities”) complained that this term isn’t politically correct.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Ich habe diesen Blog grade entdeckt und bin nun extrem unentschlossen ob ich ihn großartig finden oder abgrundtief hassen soll.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@PropheT - Keep reading. If you laugh then it’s good, if not then your hatred is justified.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Ja, nu… vielleicht haben Amis kein Wort fuer Geisterfahrer… und keins fuer Zeitgeist… und Kindergarten mussten sie auch bei den Deutschen abschreiben… aber dafuer haben sie andere Worte, die es im Deutschen nicht gibt! Da sind road rage und road rash — wer sagt da, dass Highway entspannter ist als Autobahn?!?
Robert
August 13th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Don’t forget about roadkill!
Mixxy
August 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Why the delay? Waiting on official approval from the Ordnungsamt on the content of the new post?
August 17th, 2008 at 10:36 am
He might just be on vacation - it’s August after all.
@Uno: I heartily agree.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
On the 4-way stop sign thingy … we have “Rechts-vor-Links” in the US (though you wouldn’t know it), and we realized early on that we couldn’t trust each other to be on the ball, hence the four-way stop.
I was once in the larger aisle crossing a smaller aisle in a German super-market (OK, what passes for one in Germany), and the little old lady coming from the right barked out at me “Rechts-vor-Links, Junger Mann!” and I then realized this really is ingrained in the culture.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Well, “rechts vor links” isn’t the oldest traffic rule for nothing…
August 24th, 2008 at 5:10 am
unlike most american highways and interstates you can’t remedy entering in the wrong direction that easily or safely on the autobahn.
there are barriers on the side and middle that prevent this.
but you probably knew this and were only hard up for a joke to post.
afaik california and some other states forbid talking on your cell without hands-free equipment too.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
YA RIGHT
August 28th, 2008 at 12:51 am
It’s illegal in Washington and New York. Although here in the evergreen state you can still use a cellphone if you have it on speakers or you’re using an earpiece. You just can’t use a hand set.
September 14th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I always thought I’ve to write ‘latest entries’ not ‘newest entries’ or can I use both
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
In germany we could not make use of cupholders, because the roads are curvaceous and we drive fast - no time to drink. And we don’t want to blotter the seats.
October 26th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I also never understood the extreme display of stupidity of a Geisterfahrer despite elderly confused people and people trying to commit suicide.
I like the solution of another country (dont remember which) which rip the tired if you pass the road in the wrong direction by a special mechanics in the ground.
October 28th, 2008 at 9:34 am
“and you still have ridiculous restrictions like not being allowed to drive a stick shift if your practical test was performed in a car with an automatic transmission.”
so? it’s not only plain wrong but in fact one of the things you hear in germany as an example of stupid restrictions the impose upon you in the us of a ….
November 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Ooooohhhh how I agree with you! Germans don’t even use the word “Kundendienst”, although it’s in the dictionary. If at all, they use the English “Customer Service” probably because it makes them sound like a cool, well-educated company but they DO NOT practice the same.
They do “Kundenbetreuung”, though. That sounds like it MIGHT be customer service but this is actually “Customer Annoying”. It usually takes place over the phone and consists of a rep from the company calling you and trying to convince you to buy something expensive and crap!
November 24th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Well i never encountered a Geisterfahrer, but i hear about them every time i switch on the radio while driving.
Still our motorways are in the top five considering safety, though you may drive as fast as you (-r car) can. Speedlimits suck!
January 12th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
“Here in Germany and Austria however, the sign is located only on one side of a one way street and there’s no sign on the main street to tell you that an upcoming intersecting street should not be entered.”
@Curtis: this is simply untrue. See http://verkehrszeichen.kfz-auskunft.de/verkehrszeichen_vorschriftzeichen.html , signs 209 to 214.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
thats why americans are so fat because the eat junkfood and drink coke when they drive a car.
i am proud to be european and german.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
We in Germany need strict rules, not 4 way stops –> “Rechts vor Links” (right before left)
August 28th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Admitted, I found the link on Wikipedia, but still:
“On average about 350 people are killed each year nationwide in wrong-way freeway crashes, according to an analysis by retired FHWA traffic engineer Dennis Eckhart using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatal Accident Reporting System. The 350 figure covers those killed on divided highways, including driving the wrong way on one-way traffic ways such as freeway ramps. From 1996 through 2000, 1,753 people died in wrong-way crashes on the Nation’s freeways, according to Eckhart’s analysis.”
Source: http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/02sep/06.htm
So much about “Geisterfahrer” in the US.
August 31st, 2009 at 7:04 pm
We do have an expression for Geisterfahrer, it’s “Wrong-way Driver”, which pretty much explains itself. But I have to ask, when I drive the “wrong” way, how does everyone else knows where I am going?
January 8th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
The Geisterfahrer is just an invention by the government to keep you on the right lane. You won’t drive on the left side all the time if you could hit by a car (taht speed isnt limited by the way. because thay couldn’t see any signs if they were driving on the wrong side
).
February 17th, 2010 at 10:10 am
“… they drive the wrong way down the street, and they do it so often that they have a word for it.” - Well, NO! If they would do it so often, they had 42 words for it! They have only ONE, which means that this happens rather rarely!!!
December 16th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
I was driving on the A8 one time between Stuttgart and München and heard a newsreport on the radio that there was a “Geisterfahrer” on the A8. I remember thinking, “Just one? More like a thousand!”