– It shows that there is madness, what is going on along Norwegian roads. To use a cliché: It’s Russian roulette every time you and I get into the car and drive, says Ramona Lind. She is the federal leader of the Transport and Logistics Association and the mother of Charlie Dan Lind, who died after a traffic accident in January 2019. Ramona Lind has experienced a mother’s worst nightmare. She does not treat anyone the same. Photo: Benjamin Fredriksen / news 22 year old Charlie had been home on a Christmas holiday at Sortland and was on his way to Tromsø, where he studied law. In Nordkjosbotn, an hour before he arrived, he met a Lithuanian trailer with summer tires. The driver lost control of the smooth lane. The trailer got thrown and hit the car with the unlucky 22-year-old. Charlie ended up in a coma and died 10 weeks later. Charlie Dan Lind was only 22 years old. In 2019, he was hit by a foreign truck with bad tires. Photo: Private six years after the son’s death, the mother still thinks the security is too poor. Half had errors. It shows figures from the Customs Administration. Last year, 680,000 of them were waved into one of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s control stations. Of these, 97,000 were exposed to a more thorough control. 54,000, that is, more than half, had errors or deficiencies. – It shows that we have a problem, says Pål Edvin Olsen, leader of the Norwegian Truck Owners’ Association, Department of Finnmark. Most foreign trucks drive through the boundaries without being controlled. Photo: Jan Kenneth Bråten / news The major challenge lies in all the vehicles that are not checked, Olsen believes. – We have to increase controls along the boundaries. Not just to take them, but also to inform about bad weather and challenging driving conditions. And could hold them back until it is scattered, for example, he says. Kjetil Wigdel is the department director in outdoor control in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Kjetil Wigdel is the department director in outdoor control in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Photo: Torstein Paulsen / Norwegian Public Roads Administration He says that they do as best they can with the resources they are allocated. At the same time, he points out that the number of controls has increased in recent years. – The figures first and foremost show that we are better at picking out the vehicles that we think there is reason to look into, says Wigdel. – Unable to put on chains even the number of fatalities on Norwegian roads has decreased over the last 20 years. Nevertheless, accidents with trucks are often fatal and with major personal injuries. Foreign trucks still create both fear and frustration along Norwegian winter roads. Ramona Lind believes that the skills of the foreign drivers must be required. – We who live in Norway must go through smooth driving courses. Why should we not ensure that those who come from abroad can drive on winter driving, she asks. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has been offered the opportunity to comment on the matter, but has not provided any response. Do you feel safe in the face of foreign trucks? While spring has arrived in the south, King Winter holds iron grip over Northern Norway. In recent months, foreign trailers have been blocking roads across the region. – Most people we have helped do not even put on a chain, says Johan Henrik Hætta of the Alta Bilbergingssenter. Johan Henrik Hætta believes many of the foreign drivers lack skills to drive on Norwegian winter roads. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news One thing is the skills of the drivers. Something else is the cars themselves. Even if the winter tires are approved, they are not necessarily good, says several truck owners news has talked to. They often have harder rubber than is usual to use in Norwegian winter. Ergo they become stiffer when exposed to cold, and the grip is worse. Kjetil Wigdel in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration confirms that there are variations on the quality of winter tires. – But this also applies to other types of tires. Some are better than others, he says. In several recent cases, news has illuminated that so -called two -axle vehicles can be a danger on winter driving. This is because they have poorer grip than trailers with three shafts. Nevertheless, many of the foreign lorries are just two shafts. Johan Henrik Hætta has worked for 23 years to pull cars and trucks up from the ditch. He also believes that these vehicles have nothing on ice and snow-covered roads. – It is deadly for road users to have such vehicles on the roads here. Truck such as this creates fear along the roads. Photo: Lone Bjørkmann / news He thinks the problems along the roads will not be better, but rather worse due to climate change. – This year it has been extra special because it has been so alternating temperature – and a lot of snow. And then they get problems, says Hætta. Wishing Protest Ramona Lind has lost faith in politicians and bureaucrats. – After Charlie died, I was so gira and believed in a change. But eventually I realized that the politicians had no understanding or interest, she says. In a way, she thinks politicians are excused. – How should they manage to get into things properly. One day they are the Minister of Fisheries, the next Minister of Transport. No, there are a mercy advisers and bureaucrats. She hopes for a popular commitment. That, for example, Norwegian heavy truck drivers went into a total protest. – As they did when he was buried Charlie. Then they stopped for two hours and paralyzed all of Norway. Imagine if they could do it again. It had been tough. As it is now, politicians can only close their eyes, says Lind. Ramona Lind has been on for increased traffic safety after her son died in the face of a Lithuanian trailer in 2019. Photo: Dan Herik Klaussen / news Published 29.04.2025, at. 15.57
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