– The day after I lost the note, I bought an electric scooter. I use it back and forth to work. I don’t have the license plate, so I have to get there one way or another, says a man in his 40s to news. Earlier this week he was disqualified from his license for 18 months, fined NOK 88,000 and given a suspended prison sentence of 18 months after being stopped in a blood alcohol test with an electric scooter after a festival in Stavanger on 17 June this year. As of June 15, the rules for driving electric scooters were tightened. Among other things, from this date a blood alcohol limit of 0.2 was also set for electric scooters. In addition, electric scooters were reclassified from “bicycle” to “motor vehicle”. – I was not aware that the law had come into force. I didn’t understand anything when I was stopped, says the man. The police had several checks on electric scooters on the weekend in question where our man lost his driver’s licence. According to Aftenbladet, there were as many as five people who lost their notes that weekend. A woman in her 40s also lost the note. She was fined NOK 80,000, and also received an 18-day suspended prison sentence. news knows the identity of both those involved in this case, but has chosen to anonymize them for privacy reasons. Driving under the influence of drugs on an electric scooter is considered as serious as driving a car under the influence of drugs. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Sentenced in the same way as someone who drives a car The woman explains to news that she has accepted both the fine and that the license was lost, but she feels it is not right. – It is not right that I am judged in the same way as someone who drives a car, she says to news. In a way, this is confirmed by both the prosecution and the court, who write in their judgment that “the damage potential when driving an electric scooter must be considered clearly lower than when driving, for example, a car or a moped”. She points out that there is something wrong with the regulations, not the judgement. The man who lost his license asks questions about how it is possible to lose your driving license by driving something for which you do not need a driving licence. – I can’t do anything about my case, but for the future this is very surreal. I can’t drive bigger vehicles, but I can drive the one I was driving with alcohol on it, he says. If, on the other hand, they had cycled this way, that same evening on an electric bike, they would probably not be talking to news today. Legal to ride an electric bike There is no blood alcohol limit when riding an electric bike, even if you can be punished under section 21 of the Road Traffic Act. Here it is indirectly stated that you should not ride a bike in traffic if you are in a condition that makes you unfit. – It is quite absurd. If I hit a person with an electric bicycle, I consider that the chance of a worse extent of damage is greater than if I had done the same with an electric scooter, says the woman. Both Trygg Trafikk, the media and in the comment section have almost demanded that there should be stricter rules for electric scooters, after several serious accidents on electric scooters. Both the man and the woman believe that this pressure caused the government to implement a law that they had not spent enough time on. – I think this is a panic law. It has gone rather quickly. I think that there has been a moral panic here without much thought, she says. Neither of the two convicts, who are probably among the first in Norway to be sentenced to have the sticker removed after driving with alcohol on electric scooters, had a lawyer with them in court. Don’t dare appeal Nor do they dare appeal. – If I lose the appeal, I will have to pay court costs, a lawyer and the fine. Which is huge. In addition, I can get an unconditional prison sentence and lose the note for longer. But if there is a lawyer who wants to take a closer look at this case law, then just get in touch, says the man. Recently, a man was sentenced to suspended prison for 14 days in the Oslo district court after being stopped in a blood alcohol test on an electric scooter. In addition, he received a fine of NOK 7,000. He did not have a driving licence, and was therefore sentenced to a 12-month suspension of obtaining a driving licence. Law professor at the University of Bergen, Hans F. Marthinussen, believes that this entire regulation is completely ridiculous. – It is meaningless. It is hair-raisingly strict. There is no reasonable match between what they have done and the punishment they receive. It’s like cutting off people’s hands because they steal. The Ministry of Transport must step in and clean it up, he says to news. Hans Fredrik Marthinussen is professor of law at the University of Bergen. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Hordaland – Paradoxically, he completely agrees with the man and the woman. The danger potential of driving a car while under the influence of alcohol is significantly greater than driving an electric scooter. He points out that he is not aware that they have any cases of people who have been killed by someone who has driven an electric scooter while under the influence of alcohol. – Connecting a car and an electric scooter is neither reasonable nor sensible in any way. – Because they can still ride electric scooters? – It is so extremely paradoxical that they lose the right to drive a car, but that they can drive an electric scooter again the next day. It shows how meaningless and poorly thought out these regulations are, says Marthinussen. On Thursday, Martinussen and Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) were in a debate on Dagsnytt 18 about the topic. Today most important debates, interviews and comments directly from the radio studio. Standing by the law Nygård says the law is a fact due to the high number of accidents for electric kick cyclists. Nearly half of these had used alcohol or other drugs beforehand, according to Nygård. – So it was definitely time to frame this in a good way, he says. The minister believes that one should now see how case law develops as more people are caught, but that they stand by the fact that the blood alcohol level on electric scooters should be regulated as for a motor vehicle. An electric scooter is not a bicycle either. – We have looked at the number of injuries, and there is a ten times greater chance of being injured on an electric scooter than on a bicycle. These are not comparable sizes. We have taken a targeted measure to regulate where the challenge is, he says. Law professor Marthinussen points out in the same debate that it is the potential for harm to others that applies in criminal cases.
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Lost my car driving license after driving an electric scooter – bought an electric scooter – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
