Horror scenario ghost driver: How to behave correctly

2023-11-06 15:11:00

Unknown routes, confusing ramps at rest stops, distraction, fatigue or a navigation system going crazy are examples of reasons why drivers can end up on a wrong-way lane.

“It is therefore important to stop driving immediately if you are tired or have health problems, for example. If visibility is poor, you should pay particular attention to your surroundings and traffic signs – the attention of the passenger also plays an important role here. And: Under no circumstances should you follow instructions from the navigation system “To turn around when you’re on a one-way lane. Unfortunately, this is always a reason for wrong-way driving,” says ÖAMTC traffic psychologist Marion Seidenberger

This is how you should behave

If you notice that you have become a wrong-way driver, you should immediately turn on your hazard lights to warn other drivers.

Reduce the speed immediately.
As far as possible to the nearest roadside drive, stop immediately, seek shelter behind the guardrail and wait for law enforcement to arrive.
Never cross the roadbecause when you are stressed you can easily miss an approaching vehicle.
No way try with that vehicle to turn around or leaving the motorway in reverse gear, because the risk of endangering oncoming vehicles is far too high.

Ghost driver hotspot in Carinthia

390 wrong-way drivers were reported on hit radio Ö3 in 2022, a slight increase of two reports or 0.5 percent compared to 2021. In contrast to 2021, when three people died in wrong-way driver accidents, there were no fatalities in 2022. In the total of seven accidents, five of which resulted in personal injury, one person was seriously injured and ten were slightly injured. In 2021, there were three deaths, seven serious injuries and ten minor injuries in nine accidents.

If the number of wrong-way drivers is put in relation to the total length of the motorway and expressway network, Carinthia ranks first. The southern motorway (A2) remained the motorway with the most reports, namely 65. In relation to the total length, there were on the Murtal expressway ( S36) has the most wrong-way drivers in Styria. According to Ö3, the “Wörthersee section” in Carinthia on the A2 between Klagenfurt and Villach was the highway section with the most reports – 18 wrong-way drivers were noticed here. Since records began, the absolute highest number of wrong-way drivers have been reported there. The greater Villach area is also a “hotspot”, where a total of 54 wrong-way drivers were counted on the A2, A10, A11 and at the Villach junction – one in seven in all of Austria.