Last week, news told about Tiktok videos showing rough driving in, among other things, Norway’s longest motorway tunnel. The speedometer showed a speed of 280 kilometers per hour on one of the cars. The case has caused strong reactions among people, and many are now demanding photo booths in the new tunnel just four weeks after the opening. news has spoken to one of those who published one of the videos on TikTok with rough driving. The man says the video is from the new tunnel. He claims he is part of an “underground milieu” for exclusive cars. The environment consists of around 30 members, according to the man. – I understand people are provoked, but the film in question that is being referred to, there is no traffic, says the man in his 20s to news. To map the speed in the tunnel The Swedish Road Administration also reacts to driving, and work has now been started to assess automatic speed control in the tunnel. – Based on what has come to light in the media and social media, we see a need to properly map the speed. We are in the process of getting this done, says Jørgen Bysveen, subject officer for automatic traffic control in the Norwegian Road Administration. The plan is to install a system that can measure how fast all motorists drive through the tunnel for a period of time. There are different criteria for what is needed for automatic speed control to be set up on a stretch. In the tunnel with rough driving, the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour. The country’s longest motorway tunnel has a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour, but no speed cameras. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Measurements over time must show that 20 percent of motorists in the tunnel drive faster than 110 kilometers per hour. The work is carried out in collaboration with the police. First of all, the Swedish Road Administration must clarify whether it is possible to carry out such a speed measurement in the tunnel. It depends on the equipment in the tunnel. – The tunnel is certainly caught on the radar and we are following the development, he says. Jørgen Bysveen is responsible for automatic traffic control in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and says that they follow along. Photo: Gunnar Sandvik / news Happening in the new year at the earliest Christer Taule Kjerrgård, senior engineer in the Norwegian Road Administration, says the measurements that may lead to the installation of speed cameras can start in the new year at the earliest. – Our traffic registration points are located on the outside of the tunnel. These only measure the number of road users through the tunnel. As the tunnel is now, we do not have suitable equipment to map the speed of individual passages, he writes in an e-mail. The correct equipment must now be installed. – We are in the process of installing a registration point in the tunnel, which will measure both traffic volume and speed. It is somewhat uncertain when this will be in operation, but most likely during the first months of 2023, he writes. I don’t think speed cameras will prevent speed breakers For the man in the environment for fast cars, it is not unexpected that rough driving is now coming to light. He believes there are large dark figures. The man says he does not believe that speed cameras will prevent reckless drivers. – I have seen cars drive 300 km/h between the speed cameras. I don’t think speed cameras solve anything. Those who drive this way and want to break the law, they know where the speed cameras are and know what they are doing. He himself denies being a speed breaker, but that someone else has borrowed the car and has driven at 280 kilometers per hour. – Why do many people drive fast? This photo booth is located in the Button Tunnel in Bergen. The picture was taken in connection with another case. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth – I think there is a bit of a competition about who has the best car, the most horsepower and goes the fastest. There is a lot of money in cars. For example, I have a friend who has driven a Porsche for NOK 2 million. There is certainly a way to measure which is the best, he says. He claims the environment consists of around 30 people from all over Western Norway, but mainly Bergen. – I myself am a company manager and have several companies. We all have good jobs and are independent. You have to have some money to operate like that, he says. Challenging to catch rough drivers Terje Oksnes, the emergency police’s district manager for Western Norway, says it can be risky to share videos of rough driving on social media. – People have been judged based on this. They leave electronic traces, so the local police may find out who is behind the driving, he says. UP’s district manager in Western Norway, Terje Oksnes, says that people have been sentenced for such reckless driving. The picture was taken in connection with another case. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news He confirms that rough drivers can be difficult for the police to detect. In the new tunnel between Os and Bergen, checks have been carried out with civilian police cars. – It must be done well to take these high speeds. I don’t think they do it without checking whether there are any potential civilian police cars nearby, says Oksnes.
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The Swedish Road Administration is introducing measures in a brand new tunnel between Bergen and Os after wild rough driving – news Vestland
