What is spøgelsesbilist? 

Spøgelse is the word for “ghost”, related to the verb at spøge, which means “to haunt” but can also mean “to joke” or “to not take seriously”.

Bilist means “motorist” and comes from the Danish word for car, bil, which is a contraction of automobile, although “automobile” isn’t used in Danish.

The word bilist is commonly used where you might see “driver” in an equivalent English sentence. The more direct translation kører (noun), from the verb at køre (“to drive”) is most common in sporting contexts.

Why do I need to know spøgelsesbilist?

There is a Marvel Comics character called “Ghost Rider” and it is also the name of the squadron in the movie Top Gun, but neither of these have anything to do with this Danish word.

A spøgelsesbilist or “ghost driver” is not a supernatural being as the word might suggest, but the term used to refer to someone who drives on the wrong side of the road, particularly a motorway, either intentionally or by accident.

As such, there’s nothing spooky about a spøgelsesbilist but they are extremely dangerous.

There’s not an equivalent word in English that specifically describes someone who breaks traffic laws in this way. Usually, they are described as “a driver going the wrong way on the motorway” or something similar. This obviously takes a lot longer, so the Danish term is a handy and memorable one.

Example:

Spøgelsesbilisten er blevet sigtet for vanvidskørsel og har fået beslaglagt sin bil. 

The motorist, who was driving on the wrong side, was charged with reckless driving and his car was confiscated.