Comments on: Germans drive the wrong way

By: Sven

Sven — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:46:58 +0000

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!”

By: Bogislav

Bogislav — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:10:16 +0000

“… 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!!!

By: Henning

Henning — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:36:16 +0000

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 ).

By: Also John

Also John — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:04:03 +0000

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?

By: Facts, facts, facts. ;)

Facts, facts, facts. ;) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:09:59 +0000

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.

By: Florian

Florian — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:56:14 +0000

We in Germany need strict rules, not 4 way stops –> “Rechts vor Links” (right before left)

By: max

max — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:14:49 +0000

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.

By: AndreasP

AndreasP — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:19:27 +0000

“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.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:41:31 +0000

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!

By: Dixi

Dixi — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:01:49 +0000

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!