– This is completely unacceptable and inconsiderate. He has a great willingness to take risks. That’s what Police Superintendent Atle Heradstveit, section leader of the traffic section Bergen/Askøy/Øygarden, says. It was in May that the man in his mid-40s pressed the gas well towards the bottom as he drove through the Button Tunnel in Bergen with a sports car. His two-year-old son was sleeping in the front seat. At the same time, the man holds up his mobile phone and films. Both to the side and towards the child sitting in the front passenger seat. The man proudly posted the bragging video from the trip with his child in the front seat. Photo: Videograb / The police released a bragging video In a video that the man published on Instagram, you can see that the speedometer in the car shows 156 kilometers per hour in the tunnel. The speed limit in the city is 80 km/h. No one from the police saw the driving in Knappetunnelen. But they got a tip that the driving had been posted on social media. There, the man had entered texts such as “Let’s race” and “The speed is not fast enough, the boy fell asleep”. The man filmed his sleeping son during the rough driving. Photo: Videograb / Police The man was reported to the police, and the police impounded his car for testing. The police closed the Fløyfjell tunnel and carried out a laser check on the sports car. They checked the car at 141 km/h when the speedometer showed 156. Two extreme rough driving in two months But this was far from the first time the man has been caught speeding. A couple of months earlier, he was stopped by civil police in the 80-zone at Fjøsanger in Bergen. The police had then measured his speed at a whopping 184 km/h. That time he was driving another sports car, and was alone in the car. While the man was waiting for the court case for the first reckless driving, he therefore drove recklessly in Knappetunnelen with the child in the car. – When you drive at this speed, you don’t get any of the things that happen otherwise in traffic. And other traffic leaves incredibly much later, so a collision from behind can have major consequences, explains Heradstveit. – Completely unacceptable and reckless driving, says police superintendent Atle Heradstveit. Photo: Johanna Magdalena Husebye / news Had many fines before According to the judgment in Hordaland District Court, the man has previously been fined a number of times for breaking the Road Traffic Act, including four speeding violations and careless driving. The last incident was a speeding fine in the autumn of 2020. Now he has been sentenced for the two rough driving incidents this year, and for using a hand-held mobile phone the last time. He was acquitted of insufficient securing of the child in the car, because the video does not clearly show whether the child is wearing the seat belt above or below the arm. The court believes a suitable punishment is 60 days in prison. In addition, he must be without a driving license for five years before he can take the driving test all over again. Recognizing reckless driving The District Court reacts strongly to this type of driving. Among other things, they believe that it is aggravating that the man uses a hand-held mobile phone and had a child with him on the trip. – He has admitted driving with the child, says the man’s defender, lawyer Jørgen Riple. But according to Riple, the man is disappointed about the confiscation time for the driver’s license. – It is not yet clear whether he will appeal the sentence, says Riple. It is currently unclear whether the man will appeal, says his defense lawyer Jørgen Riple. Photo: Marit Hommedal
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