– What we get a message about is that E18 has been blocked off. Cars without license plates and there are masked people blocking the road. And then it is reported that there are cars that drive very, very fast. This is what Karin Wallin, who is the district manager of the Emergency Police (UP) South, told news. Karin Wallin is district manager in UP Sør. Photo: PHILIP HOFGAARD / news She says it is too early to establish who it is, and that it is something the investigation must answer. – It may seem that it is a car community that organizes these meetings, says Wallin. – Where is this environment native to? – It seems that there is a car environment that covers large parts of Eastern Norway. In this case, it was around Lier that they had this extreme speed, she continues. It was Drammens Tidende that mentioned the case first. Many spectators gathered On Friday evening, many spectators gathered on a bridge over the E18 between Drammen and Lier. The bridge over the E18 was packed with spectators who were going to watch the race. Photo: The police There, a street car community had gathered and blocked off the main road between Drammen and Oslo, to race. – When driving at over 200 km/h, it takes very little for you to lose control of the car. And then you can also meet other people who are completely innocent. This is very, very serious, Wallin points out. She says all signs indicate that this is organized. – Someone has organized this here. We can clearly see in the pictures that it is the audience standing over E18 and watching this. It is clearly an organized incident. – Does it increase the severity? – The serious thing is the high speed, racing and the E18 being closed. That is the most serious. But the fact that it is also organized is in any case not something we think is acceptable, says Wallin. The police chase ended on a field in Sande. Photo: The police Friday’s race ends with one car running away from the scene. There is a police chase at over 200 km/h, before the car drives through a fence and onto a field in Sande in Vestfold and Telemark. The police confirm to news that there were several people in the car and that the matter is being investigated. – This car was measured at 205 km/h, explains Wallin. UP received assistance from the police helicopter, and local, uniformed police officers at MC. Do they know they are doing something wrong? The district manager says that this is because the people choose to mask themselves when they block the E18. – At least there are now people who know they are doing something wrong. Because I think that there is no other reason to mask yourself than that you think that here I don’t want to be caught for what I am doing right now, says Wallin and adds: – Blocking off E18 and putting other people’s lives in danger, we take that very seriously. The case has now been forwarded to the South-East police district, which is handling the investigation. Want to take the car from the rough drivers The incident comes just under a week after three drivers were stopped and taken for rough driving on highway 7, below Gol in Hallingdal. All of them were measured at high speeds: First car was measured at 131 km/h 80 zone Second car was measured at 172 km/h 80 zone Third car was measured at 172 km/h 80 zone – We had three cars that drove right after each other and we have perceived it as racing, operations manager Jan Kristian Johnsrud in the South-East police district told news then. According to the operations manager, this is part of a growing trend, also elsewhere in the country. Afterwards, Utrykningspolitiet (UP) told news that they believe a new law that allows confiscation of the car itself should be considered in Norway, similar to a law that was previously introduced in Denmark. – Over the course of three years now, they have confiscated several hundred vehicles. Typical for speeding offenses where you drive 100 km an hour too fast, or if you drive with more than two in the alcohol limit, said UP chief Knut Smedsrud to news. A trend in several police regions On the first weekend in June, serious accidents and speeding violations were reported in several police regions. In Stavanger, among other things, a driver was caught driving in the 146 km/h 90 zone. In Møre and Romsdal, a driver was caught in the 143 km/h 80 zone. Three drivers were measured in the 129 km/h 80 zone on national highway 9 in Valle in Agder, in the morning hours on Sunday. On the first Saturday in May this year, ten young drivers lost their license plate in Vestfold after the emergency police carried out a speed check in connection with a car collision in the district. There, the highest speed was measured at 230 km/h in the 110 zone.
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Here they close the E18 to race – ended with a police chase at over 200 km/h – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
