“Road work in progress”. “Big Moose danger”. “Lead car”.
It is among the signs you may stumble upon if you travel along Norwegian roads.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s new signs in Ofoten in Nordland, however, made motorists open their eyes.
– It was early in the morning and we were a little tired. When my husband saw the sign, we just had to turn off the road and take a picture, Anja Marita Djønne tells NRK.
The digital road sign read: “Mo i Rana – hufsa komer”.
Anja Marita and her husband Ove Jonny Djønne were on a road trip south when they discovered the unusual signs just north of Narvik.
Anja Marita and Ove Jonny Djønne had a surprise on their way home to Mo i Rana.
Photo: Private
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– We almost felt like celebrities
Hufsa is one of the characters in Tove Jansson’s Moomintroll books, and is traditionally described as a mysterious and frightening figure.
Djønne himself is from Mo i Rana. After snapping the photo, she posted it on Facebook.
– We began to wonder why this was written. Then we started to wonder if there was a hidden camera. But it was probably a coincidence, she says with a laugh.
She says that they laughed a lot at the sign, and thinks the blunder was great fun.
– We almost felt like celebrities on tour, she says.
Don’t know how it happened
The unfortunate signage in Ofoten has been discussed in several media. On a sign not far from the mentioned Hufsa sign, passers-by could read the text “yeye get pwned -ligma”, according to Forwards.
Construction manager Stein-Roar Sørensen in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration tells NRK that the signs were new and should be tested.
It was a supplier who carried out the testing, and so far the Swedish Road Administration has not received any explanation as to why the sign showed what it did.
– No, we have not received that. Many people are on holiday now, so we don’t know why exactly this writing came up.
– But we got the signs removed after an hour, says Sørensen.
The signs are intended to show information to road users, about everything from closed mountain passes and bridges to outdoor inspections of heavy vehicles.
– We have many signs along the road, and then it is important to be flexible. If we have to warn road users, such signs are handy.
Have received a lot of feedback
To Rana Blade says Bente Nyland at Vegtrafikksentralen that the subtitles have given them a bit of a headache, but also a lot of laughter.
Construction manager Stein-Roar Sørensen tells NRK that the Swedish Road Administration takes the incident with a smile, but hopes it won’t happen again.
– Is there a danger that these signs could be hacked?
– They must be secured as well as possible, says Sørensen.
And he confirms that the Swedish Road Administration has received a good deal of feedback on the sign barrier.
– Yes, we have. People thought it was funny.
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