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Despite being a gloomy year, there are several positive points.
For the different year 2020, it was the first year since the counts began that the number of traffic fatalities on Norwegian roads is less than 100.
95 people lost their lives in traffic in 2020, figures from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration show.
That is 13 less than the previous year. An important step in the right direction, says road director Ingrid Dahl Hovland.
Ingrid Dahl Hovland is Director of Roads at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
Photo: Statens vegvesen / Knut Opeide
– Since 1947, and long before the days of mass motor racing, we have seen similar figures for fatalities in traffic accidents, Hovland says in a message.
Eighty-two percent of those who died were men. For the second year in a row, Viken tops the accident statistics with 19 deaths.
Target is 0
The corona pandemic has likely affected the traffic situation, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration writes in a statement.
Nationally, there is a decrease in traffic of 7 to 8 percent compared to the previous year. Therefore, there is reason to believe that this has an impact on the lower figures.
550 people were seriously injured in traffic accidents.
“Unfortunately, we have not seen such a steep downward curve for the seriously injured as for traffic accidents,” says the highway director.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has a zero vision: the goal that no one should be killed or seriously injured in traffic.
This vision is now closer than ever, says Hovland at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in the report.
– They must work together towards the goal.
– That we have now managed to get to less than 100 shows that specific road safety work works, says director Jan Johansen at Trygg Trafikk.
Johansen is soberly optimistic, saying they still have a long way to go to reach vision zero. He believes that you have to be united to get there.
– We depend on continuous political action. The last thing we need are political decisions that go beyond zero-vision work, he says, and points, among other things, to the proposed closure of UP.
In fact, the government is considering entrusting the tasks of the Emergency Police to the police districts.
The police report is being examined by the Storting.
