It came out at an emergency meeting today. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration calls it a “Joint action against traffic fatalities”. – The development we have had in the last three months must be reversed. Therefore, we join forces and intensify the work with traffic safety both in the short and long term. Unfortunately, there are no easy and quick solutions. But together we hope to reach road users, says road director Ingrid Dahl Hovland in a press release. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration had called in for the crisis meeting after a weekend in which four people died in traffic. All Sunday. In Bardu in Troms and Finnmark, two people died when a van and two cars collided. In Gjesdal in Rogaland, two people died in a motorcycle accident the same day. Both the Ministry of Transport, Trygg Trafikk, the police, the municipal sector organization (KS) and several county municipalities were invited. Minister of Transport and Communications Jon-Ivar Nygård is pleased with the road director’s initiative for the crisis meeting. – The development is disturbing. Traffic accidents hit relentlessly, abruptly and unexpectedly. It is too early to say anything about the cause of the accidents that have occurred. It is also too early to say whether this is the result of random variations, or the start of a more long-term trend. But the fight is going on. Because we have no one to lose in traffic, says Nygård. Some of the measures after the crisis meeting: Monday’s meeting can be seen as a kind of start-up meeting for an operational collaboration for the coming weeks and months. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration will consider speed reductions on selected risk sections without middle sections on the national road network. Increased presence along the road of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s external control The Norwegian Public Roads Administration conducts immediate meetings with actors from various risk groups, such as motorcycles. Trygg Trafikk, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, UP, the Directorate of Education, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the country’s county municipalities and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration are collaborating on intensified information and campaign work on traffic safety. All actors with coordinated and reinforced press work on traffic safety The Norwegian Public Roads Administration will consider more frequent summaries of its extensive accident analysis work, which will be shared along the way with the actors. This knowledge is important in order to be able to better target the measures. SOURCE: STATENS VEGVESEN Accident summer The accident weekend comes after an early summer and summer start road authorities and traffic organizations do not appreciate. Ingrid Lea Mæland. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – Tragic, disappointing and sad, says Ingrid Lea Mæland, regional manager of Trygg Trafikk in Rogaland about the figures. She believes that all actors must now work together to try to find the causes, so that the development does not go in the wrong direction. And this wish will now be fulfilled, is one of the goals after the crisis meeting: – I am glad that the largest players are now working together to intensify the work. We are now facing summer months which, from experience, are high on the accident statistics. A period with a lot of traffic and higher speeds. This gives a greater risk of accidents, says Hovland. In May, 21 people died on Norwegian roads. Preliminary figures show that 14 people have lost their lives in traffic so far in June, according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (external link). This figure corresponds with the figure Trygg Trafikk has added to its monthly census. Six of the fatal accidents so far in June are motorcycle accidents. Trygg Trafikk called it a terrible start to the year when they shouted warnings last week. And that was before the two in Rogaland died this weekend. – Gloomy development – The accident development we are seeing now is gloomy and ugly, and we work on it every day to get better, says Morten Oseland in the Emergency Police (UP). Morten Oseland. Photo: Kaj Hjertenes / news On Monday, he and his colleagues measured motorists’ speed on the E39 at Søyland in Rogaland. Oseland has taken note of the accident statistics. He believes the explanation is complex, but emphasizes that UP and other actors do everything they can to make the statistics look different. – Every day we work to slow down, get rid of all drunk driving and get motorists to devote their full and full attention to traffic, he says. Geir Marthinsen. Photo: Press photo Geir Marthinsen, head of the Emergency Police in Northern Norway, is also despairing over the many traffic accidents this year. He says there is a lot of traffic on the roads this summer, and especially a lot of tourist traffic. – We see that in many of the controls we have, well over half are tourists who are stopped in speeding violations. With increasing traffic volume, the chance of more accidents increases. With our presence, we try to slow down and make people realize that it takes a little longer to move in the summer, he says.
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Crisis meeting after accident summer – can slow down and more controls – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
