Wrong-way driver
Wrong-way drivers - also known as wrong -way drivers - are those users of a motorway or a road with divided lanes , who drive against the prescribed direction of travel.
The principle of trust is broken in the event of wrong-way trips . As a result, wrong-way drivers are a massive danger to road traffic, especially on motorways. They cause serious traffic accidents on a recurring basis . Driving on cycle paths against the actual direction of travel is one of the main causes of accidents with personal injury among cyclists.
Road users driving on the left in spite of the right- hand driving requirement are also wrong-way drivers; However, they are not meant here, nor are vehicle drivers driving in one-way streets in the opposite direction . A disoriented car driver who, while observing all regulations, drives in the wrong direction by mistake, distances himself from the destination and is ultimately also a wrong-way driver.
General
etymology
The concept of the ghost driver originated in Germany around 1975. It is believed that it can be traced back to the concept of the ghost ship .
Causes and Motives
Car and bicycle riders can become wrong-way drivers for various reasons, for example:
- due to poor or confusing signage for entrances and exits
- due to confusing signage and lane guidance in construction sites
- due to unusual traffic routing in the area of entrances and exits (for example exits that come from the right and cross the entrance lane leading to the left and into which the wrong turn is made)
- by incorrectly approaching motorway service stations or parking lots
- due to severe impairment of vision due to adverse weather conditions or sun glare
- due to excessive demands due to age or the influence of drugs, for example when drunk in traffic
- through carelessness
- by turning or turning around on the motorway after accidentally driving up or missing an exit
- due to suicidal or extended suicidal intent
- as a test of courage
- due to getting used to left-hand traffic or right-hand traffic
- due to the announcement in the navigation system "Please turn!"
- for cyclists contrary to the permitted direction of travel on cycle paths: due to comfort and negligence or unsuitable cycle infrastructure
Prevention
With clear signs - especially "No entry" - an attempt is made to prevent accidental ghost drives. Preventing ghost drives with technical aids is difficult. There were considerations of using technical equipment, for example so-called claws, to prevent the car from colliding in the opposite direction by damaging the car tires . However, this would make it more difficult for the fire and rescue services to reach a location in the opposite direction if the motorway is closed in the regular direction. The effect on ice or snow is also not always the desired one.
In Austria, prevention against wrong-way drivers began in 1997 with the help of warning signs . These boards are unique in Austria's road traffic in that they are not financed with taxpayers' money, but exclusively through income from advertising that is on the back of the boards, which is usually prohibited on motorways and expressways.
In some districts of Canada, for example the province of Ontario , the middle and edge lines lying between lanes for opposite directions of travel are executed in yellow, so that the correct direction of travel can always be seen on every street section.
Haunted driver warning system
At the beginning of 2013, Mercedes-Benz announced a warning system for the S-Class that was developed together with Continental AG . It recognizes the combination of two prohibition signs and an arrow like those used for motorway entrances. At the same time, the result is compared with the data from the navigation system . If there is a risk of the wrong driveway being used, there is a “red warning”, similar to an open door. The driver is warned acoustically and with a message. The assistance system uses a camera that is already being used to detect speed limits .
behavior
It is often recommended to drive on the extreme right of a wrong-way driver reported on traffic reports and not to overtake. In addition, one should try to be recognized early by the wrong-way driver via the low beam and additional lighting. It is permissible to use the headlight flasher to draw attention to the wrongdoing driving the wrong way.
Wrong drivers are advised to stop with the vehicle on the central guardrail, get out, "save" themselves on the grass verge (lane divider) and then inform the police so that they can help with the turning maneuver by closing the lane for a short time .
Traffic and other warning radio
With traffic announcements on the radio , one tries to warn other road users of reported wrong-way drivers and thus to limit the damage. In most cases, warnings are issued for both lanes, as the messages often come from road users and you want to prevent possible confusion of the specified direction of travel. Reports about wrong-way drivers are given top priority on the radio; for them, music tracks or news are also interrupted on many stations. The warning messages are also sent via the TMC . According to a joint test by ADAC and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the processing of messages in navigation devices is still in great need of improvement (status: end of 2012).
Country-specific
Wrong-way driver in Germany
In Germany there are daily radio reports about wrong-way drivers. However, some of these reports are incorrect because drivers were wrong. Only the state of Bavaria has official statistics.
In the earlier registered cases, there were a total of 1,788 motorists in 1978 who were driving in the wrong direction on motorways or other multi-lane roads. The number declined to 1,100 by 1981 as better signage for motorway entrances and junctions was made.
In 2010, as part of a pilot test, signs were set up in Bavaria on the A3 and A8 , which, apart from minor differences, are the same as those used in Austria. In October 2011, such signs were also set up between Marktl and Mühldorf am Inn , as accidents with wrong-way drivers were particularly common here. At the beginning of 2016 after five years in which these signs were tested, a balance was taken. The yellow warning signs based on the Austrian model are not used nationwide on motorways. The reason: the number of cases is too low to establish a statistically relevant connection to the use of the warning signs. In particular, these signs have no influence whatsoever on people with intent to commit suicide or young people who take a test of courage by driving the wrong way.
In December 2012, the ADAC published a study for the two years 2010 and 2011, in which around 30 were identified as particularly conspicuous motorways for wrong-way driving. Most of these are streets with three-digit motorway numbers, which mostly act as feeders or connecting routes in metropolitan areas. Are among the ten most dangerous highways, according to this study, the: A 98 , A 255 , A 293 , A 391 , A 516 , A 559 , A 562 , A 643 , A 661 and A 980 also turned out in the study that the number of wrong-way drivers doubles on the weekend and especially at night, the frequency of warning messages is between 20 and 23 percent, on weekdays it is only eleven to twelve percent. More than half of the random journeys start at the junction (51%), followed by the motorway triangles and crosses (17%), eleven percent on the open road, six percent at the gas stations, rest stops and parking lots, and two percent at the start of the motorway. The remaining 13 percent are summarized as “other” in the statistics. In 2012, 1,914 wrong-way drivers were reported on German autobahn traffic reports. Most reports are received between August and October.
Ghost drivers in Austria
The phenomenon of “wrong-way drivers” occurs more than average in Austria. For example, the Austrian radio broadcaster Ö3 had to interrupt its program 497 times (2007: 519; 2006: 486) for a wrong-way driver warning, while the MDR station Jump recorded only 105 wrong-way drivers in 2005 in a broadcast area comparable to Austria. The main reasons given for the high number of wrong-way drivers in Austria are the often confusing motorway access roads, which due to the topography usually have to be implemented in a very narrow space. Only in 2011 was the lowest number of reports reached at 366. For the first time since 1987, nobody was killed. 2016 saw another drop, but two wrong-way drivers killed.
In 2015 there were 383 wrong-way driver warnings, 102 of them in Lower Austria, 79 in Styria, 50 in Tyrol, 47 in Upper Austria, 33 in Carinthia, 29 in Salzburg, 17 in Vienna, 14 in Vorarlberg and 12 in Burgenland. Lower Austria led the statistics for the eighth year in a row. Wrong drivers caused a total of 14 accidents with 14 injured, there were no deaths. The most alerts were on August 8, 2015 with six. The south autobahn (A2) had the most warnings with 52 messages, the highest density was with 14 messages in the Linz area at the Dornach junction Linz section of the Mühlkreis autobahn (A7). According to the Ö3 traffic editor, most of the wrong-way drivers were on Sundays.
In order to make the prohibited entry at motorway exits as conspicuous as possible, large boards are set up. In order to finance the boards, the relatively strict ban on advertising on the autobahn has been relaxed and it is now possible to put advertising space on the back of these boards, with which these signs are financed.
Since there was no traffic sign in Europe that indicated an oncoming wrong-way driver , the danger sign 14a was introduced in 2006 at the instigation of the then Minister of Transport Gorbach and against some critical voices that the sign could be misunderstood depending on the situation . "Warning wrong-way driver" (§ 50 Z. 14a.) Inserted into the StVO :
- "This sign indicates that a vehicle is traveling in a direction opposite to the intended direction of travel, although this is not permitted by road traffic signs or floor markings."
The wording of No. 14a. following, this traffic sign is only displayed in electronic form on variable message sign systems when necessary. Before this traffic sign was introduced, the term wrong-way driver did not exist in Austrian law or in judicature . For this reason, instead of the official term, the previously legally not fixed term " wrong-way driver " is still used in public .
Wrong-way drivers in France and Italy
In France and Italy, many motorways are tolled . Nevertheless, wrong-way drivers are common in these countries. In France, 2.4% of serious accidents and 4.5% of road deaths are caused by wrong-way drivers. These are particularly often caused by drivers who turned around at toll booths .
Criminal liability
Germany
In Germany, driving the wrong way may endanger road traffic and is therefore a criminal offense under Section 315c of the Criminal Code. The part of the regulation related to wrong-way drivers reads: "Anyone who turns in road traffic [...] in a grossly illegal and inconsiderate manner [...] on motorways or motorways, drives backwards or against the direction of travel or tries to do so [...] and thereby the life or limb of another person or foreign property of significant value at risk, shall be punished with imprisonment up to five years or a fine. "As a side effect, a coming ban after § 44 into consideration.
Austria
In Austria, driving the wrong way is recorded as a negligent public risk under Section 177 of the Criminal Code . The act can be punished with imprisonment for up to one year. If the act results in the death of a person or serious bodily harm to a large number of people or if the act has put many people in need, the perpetrator must be punished with imprisonment of up to three years according to Section 170 StGB. If the death of a large number of people is caused, the sentence is imprisonment from six months to five years.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, driving the wrong way is a violation of Art. 90 , Clause 2 of the Road Traffic Act : "Anyone who causes or accepts a serious risk to the safety of others by grossly violating the traffic rules will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine." is treated legally as an abstract dangerous offense.
Known victims
- The American musician Criss Oliva died on October 17, 1993 when he collided head-on with an intoxicated wrong-way driver near Tampa . Oliva's wife Dawn was seriously injured.
- The German soccer player Roland Wabra was killed on October 17, 1994 in an accident with a wrong-way driver on the A 6 .
- The Austrian actress Doris Schretzmayer had a serious car accident in 1997 because of a wrong-way driver.
- The German television presenter Alexandra Freund was killed in a traffic accident on the A 8 Munich – Salzburg motorway on June 21, 2001 when a wrong-way driver raced head-on into her car with suicidal intent.
- The Belgian politician Monika Dethier-Neumann was critically injured on October 17, 2013 by an 87-year-old wrong-way driver on the motorway near Verlaine . The person who caused the accident got away with minor injuries.
See also
literature
- Claus Christoph Eicher: Deadly Encounter, in: ADAC Motorwelt Issue 1 January 2013; Pp. 20-26.
Web links
- Ghost Driver: When suicide becomes a weapon Article of the star
- On the wrong track from KfV
- Wrong drivers: Tips for emergencies on the ADAC website
- The mortal enemy on your trail, Focus 48/2012, p. 70.
Individual evidence
- ↑ In Austria the term wrong-way driver only exists as a legal designation of a certain traffic sign, generally " wrong-way driver" is used.
- ↑ a b Gerhard Köbler : Etymological legal dictionary . Mohr Siebeck Verlag , Tübingen 1995, p. 148 ( G [PDF; 195 kB ]).
- ↑ a b c POK Ballhorn, Police Motorway Station Gau-Bickelheim: Ghost drivers? - wrong-way driver! ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 14, 2009.
- ↑ Stop for the wrong-way driver ( memento of the original from March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 3M press release dated November 18, 1997, accessed September 9, 2013.
- ^ Department of Transportation of the Canadian Province of Ontario: Driver's Handbook
- ↑ (ski): "Red warning of a ghost drive - Mercedes offers new assistance system"; Verlagsgruppe Rhein Main , Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz; P. 28 (Panorama), January 10, 2013.
- ↑ Police Rhineland-Palatinate: wrong-way drivers (so-called ghost drivers), ( Memento of the original from March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ "Navis and ghost drivers: There is a huge problem here", in: ADAC Motorwelt issue 1 January 2013; P. 26.
- ↑ The pilot project in southern Bavaria does not bring any precise results from January 27, 2016.
- ↑ Greatest danger on short motorways / ADAC investigation into wrong-way drivers - 40 percent of wrong-way driver reports on weekends from December 20, 2012.
- ↑ Wrong-way drivers in Germany: The ten most dangerous motorways. ( Memento from March 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: ADAC 12/2012 , accessed on March 30, 2016.
- ↑ Claus Christoph Eicher: "Deadly encounter" in: ADAC Motorwelt issue 1 January 2013; P. 20.
- ↑ Data protection for wrong-way drivers , accessed on January 31, 2013.
- ↑ Ö3: The Ö3 ghost driver statistics 2008 , accessed on April 14, 2009 ( memento of the original from November 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ The Ö3 ghost driver statistics 2011 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Ö3 from January 19, 2012, accessed on November 26, 2012
- ↑ In 2016 there were fewer wrong-way drivers (with statistics), published on February 1, 2017, accessed on August 28, 2017
- ↑ Ö3 ghost driver statistics 2015
- ^ Motorway advertising , accessed on February 2, 2011.
- ↑ Report Prevention contresens 2008 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
