It’s been years since tourists started descending on Norway in the winter as well as summer, in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, skiing or experiencing dark days as well as nights. Now they’re renting cars as well, and that’s causing lots of problems when they don’t know how to drive on slick winter roads.
After a string of serious accidents involving foreign drivers, state and local officials are trying to deal with the problem and improve traffic safety. State highway officials, police, tourism officials and local politicans couldn’t offer any “quick fix,” though, even after two Norwegian women were killed in a head-on collision outside Harstad last week when a tourist from Indonesia veered onto their side of the road in winter weather.
“There’s no doubt the rising numbers of visitors on winter roads are challenging,” Geir Martinsen, leader of traffic police in Northern Norway, told state broadcaster NRK. All Norwegians and immigrants applying for drivers’ licenses in Norway must pass driving tests on slick roads, but rental car companies can’t discriminate against tourists from abroad who want to rent a car.
“We must remember that most all accidents in Norway are caused by high speed, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and a lack of attention,” Martinsen said. Trond Øverås, leader of the tourism organization Nordnorsk Reiseliv, told NRK that efforts were underway to make tourists more aware of the risks involved in winter driving, while others called for more public transportation to outlying areas of interest to tourists.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
