Ghost Drivers
 

Hi, I'm set to go on a vacation to Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was planning to rent a car when someone mentioned "Geister Fahrer" or Ghost drivers and told me to be aware of them. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them. Any and all help would be great!

Sorry, I don't know, but it sure sounds scary to me.

A ghost driver is someone who is inadvertently driving in the wrong direction on the highway, i.e., against traffic. I've never been clear on exactly how anyone could fail to notice which direction the traffic is moving, but I understand it's a problem in the countries you mention. Perhaps the traffic signs are different in some way that makes it easy to get confused. In any case, they are indeed dangerous because, when they finally do meet other traffic, it is head-on.

I found the info the Anthony posted hard to believe, so I did some investigating. This is what I found:

"To avoid the sometimes heavy traffic during day time it might be a good solution to drive at night time but be ware of Geister Fahrer (ghost driver). They are people who simply want to commit suicide. They enter Autobahn in the wrong direction and start to drive in full speed with no lights on in order to crash into an oncoming vehicle. This happens almost a couple of times every week."

Geister Fahrer on autobahns are no different than wrong way drivers on Stateside freeways. It usually happens late at night and most often (tho' not always) due to drunk driving.

They are the reason one should NEVER cruise along in the fastest, inside lane late at night. When someone is that drunk they don't know they are going the wrong way or have their headlamps off. Drivers that are this drunk will be in the fast lane thinking they are hugging the shoulder in the slow lane going the other direction.

This is something I've been told by several current and former state troopers and a Thames valley policeman in the UK.

Going along with DeeDee's post there is evidently a video game that is called Geister Fahrer also. A scary concept. It sounds like "suicide by police " here in the US, where some mentally people do what they have to so that they are killed by the police.
A sad state of affairs.

"Geister Fahrers" are a rare thing and they usually come on the news on the radio or in the local newspaper when it happens. Sometimes they take the exit as a freeway entrance because of alcohol or sometimes they are senior citizens who get a bit mixed up. Luckily, not many accidents happen because of them.

I'd be more cautious of "Rasers", people who race or drive too fast without consideration of other drivers. We've got many more of those type of drivers. They are usually young, bored kids who haven't really learned the dangers of the road. It's comparable to a "James Dean" attitude.

Suicide??? Most "ghost drivers" just enter the on-ramp going the wrong direction, entirely by mistake.

Time for a joke:

A woman is listening to the radio one evening and she hears the announcer warn that there is a "ghost driver" travelling westbound on the highway between Amsterdam and Utrecht. Concerned, because she knows her husband will be travelling that route, she calls him on his cell phone. When her husband answers, she tells him about the radio warning.
"ONE ghost driver?" retorts the husband. "There must be a thousand out here right now!"

Hmm, mayhap it would be better if I took a bus tour. I have an IDL and have done some driving in France and the low countries and was looking forward to the Autobahn, but perhaps I should reconsider.

Oh, no, I was a ghost driver a couple of times in the UK last month!! But my ghost driving only lasted a few seconds before I came back to reality. :-))

CarainCali, I don't think you should reconsider and do a tour. This type of thing could happen anywhere in the world. I've driven the autobahns a few times and had no trouble.

A friend of mine did the same thing on the San Diego Freeway when she came out to visit. It was after a long flight and she was truly out of it, but seeing cars speed at her on the off-ramp gave her a rude awakening.

Apparently we were posting at the same time. You have just made my point, this can happen anywhere.

I agree with the previous posters that this isn't a phenomenon limited to German Autobahns- <b>but</b>: Chances that one would come across one of those lunatics are slim - and I guess about the same as winning in a lottery or encountering an aircraft crash.
I
've been piling up a considerable amount of miles on the Autobahn for several years, yet I (fortunately) have never encountered a &quot;Geisterfahrer&quot;.

Happened to me not too long ago on the Florida Turnpike, in day light, not drunk, just unfamiliar with the ramps.

The car coming at me stopped, honked and let me turn around.

((I))