– Attention in traffic is important, but it is not necessarily the case that a quick glance at a sheet is necessarily punishable, says head of the emergency police (UP), Steven Hasseldal, to Dagbladet.
The progress in traffic at UP – which has precisely the main task of protecting traffic safety – has come into the spotlight after Drammens Tidende (DT) this week reported that an official of the special agency drove a car while at the same time reading a document.
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The incident was immortalized by the dashboard camera of Henry Transeth (30), who met the UP car on the way home from work in Drammen to his home in Spikkestad in Asker. He reacts to the fact that the driver has not received any reaction afterwards.
– It is very sensational. When I got my driver’s license twelve years ago, the main focus was to keep my eyes on the road and not steer with everything else. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Trygg Trafikk have had campaigns on just this, he says to Dagbladet.
Requires negligence
UP manager Hasseldal states that the driving may be affected Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act, which is used in a number of cases where negligent driving is involved. The paragraph reads, among other things:
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“Everyone must travel considerately and be alert and careful so that no danger or damage can occur and so that other traffic is not unnecessarily obstructed or disturbed.”
– Paragraph 3 requires that one must have been negligent if one is to be convicted. There is a lot that takes care from a driver, but it is not always punishable, Hasseldal says to Dagbladet.
UP has internally investigated the case. It is not disputed that the policeman actually read a document in the car – but the scope was very limited, Hasseldal emphasizes.
– Our drivers are very conscious in traffic. The official chose here to take a quick look at a list of number plates to check a car in front that might be of interest to the police, he explains.
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– Misunderstandings
– But it can come as no surprise that the audience reacts to such behavior?
– I understand that the audience is concerned about this, but there are many misunderstandings here. One thing is cell phone use, which has a separate regulation, which causes a punitive reaction as long as you hold and use it while driving, says Hasseldal.
– But can you turn on a radio? Yes of course. There are many things you do in the car that are not punishable, says the UP manager and continues:
– Paragraph 3 is a more discretionary provision, but we would never punish anyone if the behavior did not have serious consequences, such as insults or a near-accident. Here there was nothing to indicate that the driver had a unconscious unconscious.
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– Equality before the law
The UP chief insists that there is equality before the law – that a civilian motorist would not have been punished in this case either.
– We would never report anyone else if the driving did not have any effect, Hasseldal emphasizes.
Eyewitness Transeth buys Hasseldal’s explanation of the application of section 3 – that a dangerous situation must have arisen. He is, however, critical of the fact that the UP driver has apparently quickly been believed in his explanation that he took a quick look at the number plate list.
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– If he only sat with private papers, he could only say that, the 30-year-old thinks.
Transeth also believes that there is a logical flaw in the legislation, as a quick glance at documents avoids prosecution, while all use of a handheld mobile is punished.
– The sense of sight is the key. If you sit and drive and have your mobile phone in the seat, and you pick it up with a clear answer button and hold it to your ear, you can still keep your eyes on the road at all times. Keeping up with paperwork while driving must be much, much worse, he says.
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