73 people have lost their lives in traffic so far this year, compared to 80 in the whole of last year. At the same time, this is the first summer where all the country’s speed cameras are turned on 90 percent of the day. The police want to catch more speeding offenders and reduce the number of accidents, but for now the most visible result is that far more people have received speeding fines. Now the Swedish Road Administration has selected some concrete stretches of road where they are considering lowering the speed limit. – It is to reduce the number of deaths in traffic, says Nils Karbø in the Norwegian Road Administration to news. TV 2 mentioned the Swedish Road Administration’s plans first. In addition to reducing the speed limit, it may also be appropriate to set up more speed cameras, says Karbø. I think most people slow down before the box Motorist Sebastian Erland has experienced himself that stepping too hard on the accelerator can burn your wallet. – I have been caught twice, he admits. The young driver is unsure of how effective the speed cameras are. – You slow down a bit at the photo booth, but you accelerate afterwards. I think most people do. But when you get caught, you think about it a bit, says Erland. He thinks it is positive that the police use resources to crack down on those who don’t obey the speed limit. – There are dangerously high accident numbers now. It got me thinking. I slow down a bit more now. The police: – Great effect Before the summer, the speed cameras across the country were adjusted so that they are active for approximately 90 per cent of the day. In the past, the photo booths have only been in operation for part of the day, and at least where the traffic is greatest. The change has meant that the income from fined motorists has gone from 108 million at this time last year to 151 million this year. – We have used the boxes a lot more than before, says Knut Smedsrud, head of the Emergency Police. UP chief Knut Smedsrud in front of one of the many speed cameras that catch speeders in traffic. Photo: Helena Rønning / news He says the speed decreases both before and a good distance after the speed cameras. – Much research has been done on this. We know it has a big effect. Smedsrud believes that you have to see the development over a longer period of time before you can compare the number of motorists caught speeding with the number of fatal accidents. – These are relatively large numbers when we talk about the number measured in relation to the number of traffic accidents. Finding the direct connections there over a short period of time, I think, is difficult. It may be appropriate to use more speed cameras Nils Karbø in the National Road Administration agrees with the police that speed cameras have a great effect. At the same time, the large number of fatal accidents has meant that the Swedish Road Administration is now considering lowering the speed limits in several places. – We have looked specifically at two sections in Finnmark, one section in Trøndelag and one in Agder, says Karbø. – Then we will also consider other sections in due course These sections may have a lower speed limit E39 in Agder. The speed can be reduced from 80 to 70 km/h on a 14.2 kilometer stretch. E6 at Støren in Trøndelag. The speed can be reduced from 90 to 80 km/h. E6 in Bardu in Troms and Finnmark. The speed can be reduced from 80 to 70 km/h through the Brandvollkrysset. E6 in Troms and Finnmark. The speed can be reduced from 90 to 80 km/h. (Source: National Road Administration) Quadrupling in Oslo Traffic drivers in Oslo account for the largest part of the increase in income from speed cameras. Last year, the police received more than NOK 15 million in fines in the first half of the year. This year, the number has quadrupled; almost 62 million. The reason for this is largely that the police have adjusted down how high the speed must be before the speed camera takes a picture and measures speed. In the past, this so-called entry point has been higher in Oslo than in the rest of the country. There have not been enough resources to deal with all the speeding violations there. Ten new employees have now been hired to work on this. Thus, they have a higher capacity to deal with speeding offences.
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Håves in after adjusting the photo booths, but the accident numbers are going the wrong way – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
