– I have to pinch myself because I hardly think it’s true, says Markus André Bakken Myrvold. It was in the summer of 2015 that Myrvold was involved in a fatal accident. The trailer of his semi-trailer hit a car. A mother of two died in the collision. Myrvold was convicted of negligent homicide because the court believed that he had been in the wrong lane with the whole train before the accident. Then, according to the verdict, he must have tried to swerve to avoid a collision, but the trailer must have got stuck in the wrong lane. The mother of two had no opportunity to turn away. Experts from the National Roads Administration and the private company Rekon are said to have substantiated this theory about the cause of the accident in court, and this was emphasized in the judgement. But was it right? In December 2022, news published a major article about the accident in Lofoten. Could other possible causes of the accident really be ruled out? No, say lawyer Sigurd Klomsæt and a group in Southern Norway. Therefore, they want the case reopened. Klomsæt has submitted the case to the Re-admission Commission. There, the processing time ranges from a few months to several years. Re-admission commission Body that assesses whether a criminal case that has been legally decided by the courts must be re-processed by the court. The commission is independent of the courts and will thus contribute to greater legal certainty in Norway. The commission has five permanent members. The chairman, deputy chairman and one other member must have a law background. In 2022, the commission dealt with 242 cases. Of these, 44 were definitely reopened. If the case is reopened, the question of guilt and/or the sentencing must be tried again. The case will then go before a different court than the one that handed down the judgment in the first instance. Source: Store norske lexikon og spoortagene.no The Norwegian Public Roads Administration writes in a statement to news that they do not wish to comment on cases decided in court. – Brakes on vehicles involved in serious accidents are examined by our accident investigators. Which methods are used depends, among other things, on the condition of the vehicle after the accident, says press contact Torstein Paulsen, in the National Road Administration’s department for road users and vehicles. – Wrongly convicted – I firmly believe that many drivers are wrongly convicted because they blindly trust the police and the Norwegian Road Administration, says Klomsæt. Sigurd Klomsæt says that he himself took the driving test for heavy vehicles in the early 70s. Photo: Helge Andersen In recent months, he and the group have gone through the information that appears in the case documents and in news’s article. The group has included, among others, Per Yngve Knudsen and Helge Andersen, both long-term former employees of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. They both have experience in the field and were, among other things, part of an expert group in the early 2000s. They contribute with their expertise in the resumption work. Have carried out their own investigations In recent months, they have carried out several investigations, both practical and theoretical. They have investigated whether the accident was possible as has been assumed in the judgement. Among other things, they have examined the speed, the curve and what the final position of the vehicles involved can say about the accident. This has resulted in an 18-page report, which in turn has laid the foundation for parts of the reinstatement petition. Helge Andersen (left) and Per Yngve Knudsen at the latter’s kitchen table, which had been turned into the road where the accident happened. Here they discuss the vehicles’ final position. Photo: Syed Ali Shahbaz Akhtar / news In the 24-page accompanying letter to the Re-admission Commission, the group concludes as follows: Time, distance and angle for a normal field change are not included in assessments and calculations. There is no evidence in the documents for the court’s conclusion and judgment. The fact is assessed incorrectly. – Based on our investigations, the theory of the course of events that has been put forward seems highly improbable, says Andersen. The brake expert previously worked in the National Road Administration in Sørlandet, but was dismissed after a long conflict. He has previously warned that the checks on brakes on heavy vehicles are too poor, and that errors that can lead to accidents are not always detected. This was discussed by news in the documentary Collision. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has always rejected Andersen’s concerns, and believes that Norway follows international regulations in this area. It cannot be ruled out that the cause was technical Despite the fact that the problem has been known for several years, prosecutor Rita Hermansen Dahl argued the following during the trial: “… the documentation showing the brake checks that were carried out after the repair on 26 June 2015, the court finds that it can is ruled out beyond any reasonable doubt that there were technical faults with the car or the trailer’s brakes when the accident took place. It can thus be ruled out that there were technical issues with the car that caused the trailer to cross into the oncoming lane.” In short, the faults the group refers to are about a fault in the ABS system and the load-dependent brake modulator. Faults in these systems can cause the trailers to brake much more than the towing vehicles and can thus turn to the side. – I took my lorry driving test myself in 1972. Then I was asked a question about what has led to fatal accidents. Then I answered the load-dependent ventilator. At the time they were able to rust firmly, but it shows that this is knowledge that has been available since 1972 anyway, says Klomsæt. news has later also mapped accidents that may have been caused by such brake faults. – Because of poor investigations The group believes that it is likely that brake failure was also the cause of the fatal accident in Lofoten in the summer of 2015. They believe that the National Road Administration and Rekon may have reached the wrong conclusions based on what the group calls excessively poor investigations. – It seems that they did not want to investigate this as a real cause of the accident. Several of those involved in the accident investigation must have known about the content of my notifications, says Andersen. Sigurd Klomsæt and the expert group believe that the physical brake marks the police found at the scene, and the statement of the most important eyewitness in the case, support their conclusions. They believe that the experts who were emphasized in the judgment almost simply ignored this. – I am sure that if this case is reopened, there will be an avalanche of negligent homicide cases. There are many professional drivers who have had their lives and careers destroyed, says Klomsæt. Defends the investigations Civil engineer and technical investigator in Rekon, Erik Aanerud, responds to the criticism he receives from Myrvold’s supporters. He maintains that the scenario Andersen, Klomsæt and co refer to was highly improbable. He believes there are three prerequisites that must have been present: Low friction. So it must have been smooth. Uneven brake distribution between tractor and trailer. ABS may not have worked. – With one assumption that is unlikely and two that are very unlikely, we believe that it can be said beyond any reasonable doubt that the tow truck could not have been in its own lane until the collision, says Aanerud. Andersen has previously commented on Aanerud’s statements in this article. Erik Aanerud has testified in court on several occasions. Photo: Geir Bjarte Hjetland / news Aanerud also believes that the brake and skid marks at the site cannot have originated from the accident. In addition, he has a more general comment: – I fully share Helge Andersen’s view that there should still be concrete requirements for the distribution of braking power between car and trailer and control of this. It would provide a certain additional barrier against the trailer wheels locking first so that the trailer skids out if the ABS is defective, says Aanerud. Statements of support Markus André Bakken Myrvold himself says that he has received “enormous” support after appearing on news, and is now looking forward to having his case tried again. According to Markus André Bakken Myrvold, “hundreds, if not thousands” have made contact after he appeared in the media. Photo: Rolv Christian Topdahl / news – Everything from truck drivers to the ordinary man and woman in the street. People I’ve never seen before come up and ask how I’m doing and say they support me. It’s getting hot, he says. – I feel the opportunities are there to really show that it was not driver error, but a technical failure in the vehicle. At work in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Helge Andersen discovers a fault with brake controls on truck trains. He fears that approved truck trains will become death machines on the road.
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Requests reopening after Markus Myrvold was convicted as a murderer – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
