– It is worrying, and a big downturn that so many have lost their lives in traffic so far this year, says Cecilie Bryner, communications manager at Trygg Trafikk. Last year, 80 people died in traffic. This is the lowest number of deaths in decades. At the same time, 46 people have lost their lives in traffic so far this year. At the same time last year, the number was 24. – Disturbing number To find a month in May with more fatalities, we must go back to 2008. Then 28 people lost their lives in traffic, against 21 fatalities in the last month. According to Trygg Trafikk, over 70 percent of the fatal accidents have been single or meeting accidents. – Modern touch screens in new cars and the use of mobile phones are factors that can create life-threatening situations. It does not take many seconds of inattention before the accident is a fact, says Bryner. If you look away for just two seconds, you can cover a long distance “blind”. Earlier in May, there was also a fatal accident on Sørsivegen in Grong in Trøndelag. Photo: Kjetil Langeng Guro Ranes, director of the Department of Road Safety at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, describes the development in May as terrible. Before that, April was also a month with many serious accidents and 13 fatalities. These are disturbing figures, and this means that we have to discuss whether there is anything we can do in the short term to prevent further negative development. Nordland, Rogaland, Viken and Vestfold and Telemark in particular stand out in a negative direction. So far this year, no fatalities have been registered in Møre og Romsdal. In Trøndelag, three people died in May – all in the last ten days. A total of four people have died in traffic in the county this year. Most men 18 of the 21 who died in May were men, and 13 of these were 55 years or older. – There is still a predominance of well-adult men, Ranes says to NRK. She describes this as a road user group that generally has a lot of driving experience. It is therefore of concern to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration that so many in this group die in traffic. – It may seem as if we take a higher risk now than we did the two previous years when the pandemic controlled our lives, Ranes points out to NRK. Last week there was a serious traffic accident on E39 between Orkanger and Gjølme in Trøndelag. Both motorcycle and car were involved in the accident, and a man in his 60s died. Photo: John J. Storholt The group of road users who stand out particularly negatively are the motorcyclists. Five of the 21 people killed in May were motorcyclists, and all were well-adult men. – It is disturbing that we are now entering the summer season and expect even more to embark on shorter or longer trips on motorcycles. Motorcyclists must take into account how vulnerable they are in traffic, and take responsibility for their own safety. Ranes emphasizes the personal responsibility of the individual road user. She also encourages everyone who is going out on the roads at Pentecost to drive carefully. – We must remember to use the seat belt, we must keep the speed limit, drive drug-free and make sure we have our attention on the road. We do not know the details of what has been behind the individual fatal accidents recently, but these are factors that we know contribute to accidents occurring, or to the extent of damage increasing.
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Trygg Trafikk and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration report high numbers of fatalities in traffic in May and so far this year – NRK Trøndelag
