– Just get them off the road, says Jon Steffen Birkeland. On Monday morning, he was stopped at a police checkpoint in Mosjøen when he and his family were on their way to Vesterålen. Birkeland blew the green light, and thinks it is good that the police have checks along the road to stop drunk driving. For this weekend, there have been several cases where the police have suspected drunk driving. In Nordland, they suspect that two or three drivers have been driving under the influence of drugs at the weekend. The police in Innlandet, Troms and Finnmark, and elsewhere in the country, also have such suspicions. Thus, the negative development in the first half of the year looks set to continue into July. The most recent figures from UP show look like this: 6071 drivers have been reported for driving under the influence of drugs. That is more than 400 more than the same period last year. And an increase of 29 percent. Better equipment Part of the explanation for the fact that the police are now exposing more drunk drivers is that they have been given better equipment. – Especially when it comes to pill and drug addiction. Furthermore, our crew has become better at focusing on drink driving, says Jarle Opsal, police superintendent and group leader for UP in Møre og Romsdal. Superintendent of Police Ann line Finanger in UP says that the saliva tester is a fantastic tool that means they catch more people than before. Photo: Ole-Christian Olsen / news Further north in the country, UP chief in Northern Norway Geir Marthinsen says that saliva testers may have something to do with the case. – Previously, only the emergency police had saliva testers to detect drugs other than alcohol. Now the whole of Politi-Norge has it. And that may be one of the reasons why we take more people, says Marthinsen. Intoxication in 25 per cent of fatal accidents There has been an increase on a national basis over the years – with somewhat varied results in the corona years 2020 and 2021, figures from the Emergency Police (UP) show that UP chief in Northern Norway, Geir Marthinsen Photo: TOR FARSTAD In 25 per cent of the fatal accidents in 2022, intoxication was a contributing factor. High speed 34% and attention 33%, show the figures from UP. – Drunk driving is of course serious, and it can have very serious consequences. We see that in approx. 25 percent of fatal accidents involve drugs and one of the causes of the accident, says Marthinsen. A so-called roadside study carried out by FHI (Public Health Institute) a few years ago showed that there are 140,000 drunken trips on Norwegian roads every day. Only reveals the tip of the iceberg The police only reveal a small number of those who get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs every day, explains Marthinsen. – We are only revealing the tip of the iceberg. So even though we have caught more drunk drivers in recent years, it does not necessarily mean that there are more drunk drivers now than before. It may be that we have become better at catching the right ones, he says and adds: – In any case, we can determine that there are far too many people who choose to get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs and become a risk for all road users, he says. The police suspect drink driving after a car ended up off the road at Kvalsaukan in Sortland in Nordland on the night of Sunday. Photo: Jens Andre Mehammer Birkeland Trygg Trafikk believes that even more drug controls are needed, but also that the healthcare system must contribute more. – We must have a greater focus on drugs. And GPs must be much more aware of those who drive with prescription medication, and who should not be out in traffic, says Harald Heierås. He is specialist manager for traffic safe municipalities in Trygg Trafikk. Heierås also believes that other road users should become better at reporting if they see something suspicious in traffic. Most men Most men are caught for drink driving, according to the head of UP in Northern Norway. – The age also varies in relation to the type of vehicle used during the drive. For example, young people are overrepresented on mopeds, while adults are overrepresented on heavy vehicles. UP reveals the vast majority of them in daily scheduled checks. While local police expose most of them after tips or because there have been traffic accidents or accidents, explains the UP chief. Police Superintendent Ann Line Finanger shows the result after a saliva test by Kristofer Lakselv Johansen. Everything was fine here. The figures show that those most often caught for drink driving are those between the ages of 25 and 34, with 1,663 cases so far this year. – We cannot paint that picture black and say that it is much worse on the roads than it was before. But what we can at least say is that there are far too many people out there every day who drive under the influence of drugs on the roads. And they are a major safety risk for everyone who travels on our roads, says Marthinsen.
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– Those we take are only the tip of the iceberg – news Nordland
