STOPPED: The Swedish Road Administration did not allow the van to drive across the border. This is what the load looked like. Photo: Norwegian Road Administration
A Swedish van was stopped with illegally long flagpoles at the border. Then the Swedes decided to carry it back on foot.
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On Tuesday, a Swedish van tried to cross the border at Svinesund from Sweden to Norway, but was quickly stopped and checked by the Norwegian Road Administration.
– The control crew understood that the vehicle had nothing to do on the road and chose to stop the van in Svinesund, Øyvind Grotterød, head of the Norwegian Road Administration, told VG.
The Swedes were to transport 16.8 meter long flagpoles.
– The driver himself believed that it was legal to drive like that. Because that may be the case in Sweden, explains Grotterød.
The driver was banned from using the van, so the Swedes had to find another vehicle that could transport the flagpoles in accordance with Norwegian legislation.
They had no opportunity for this.
– So they decided to walk back to Sweden with the flagpoles. They took the flag poles, two men, and carried them between them from our checkpoint to Sweden, says Grotterød.
– It was a strange sight to see it there, and we have seen a lot of strange things, but not exactly this, he adds.
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Photo: Norwegian Road Administration
– We deal with road safety, and we don’t see it like the Swedes. It is not in accordance with traffic safety, says Grotterød.
The maximum legal length of such a vehicle is 12 metres. The flagpoles also protruded 7.2 meters in front of the vehicle, the maximum permitted is 1 meter, the Norwegian Road Administration writes in a press release.
The driver was reported to the police for both conditions.
– I guess they had to carry for 2-3 km. Those bars aren’t light, either, they must have been sweating, I think, when they arrived in Sweden, says the office manager.
ON FOOT: Here the two Swedes have a hard life. Photo: Norwegian Road Administration
According to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, such a load is a direct traffic trap, at least at roundabouts, intersections and in cities.
– You don’t know where they intend to drive in Norway. So we consider the transport to be very dangerous.
According to Fredriksstad Blad the shortest route must have taken 38 minutes, and that without flagpoles.
How they solved it afterwards is beyond the control of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, says Grotterød.
Published:
Published: 24.08.23 at 02:41
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2023-08-24 00:41:44
#Swedes #turn #border #strange #sight
