Police read the document while driving – Head of UP:

– Attention in traffic is important, but it is not necessarily the case that a quick glance at a leaf is necessarily punishable, says the chief of the emergency police (UP), Steven Hasseldal, to Dagbladet.

Progress in traffic in the UP, which has the primary task of protecting traffic safety, has come into the spotlight after Drammens Tidende (DT) reported this week that a task force official was driving a car while I was also reading a document.

The incident was captured by the dash cam of Henry Transeth (30), who came across UP’s 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’s very sensational. When I got my driver’s license twelve years ago, the main goal was to keep my eyes on the road and not drive with everything else. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Trygg Trafikk have campaigned on precisely this, he tells Dagbladet.

Requires negligence

UP manager Hasseldal claims that driving can be affected by section 3 of the Road Traffic Act, which is used in several cases involving negligent driving. The paragraph says, among other things:

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“Everyone must travel with consideration and be vigilant and careful so that there is no danger or damage and that other traffic is not unnecessarily obstructed or disturbed.”

– Paragraph 3 requires that one must have been negligent to be convicted. There are many things that take care of a driver, but it is not always punishable, Hasseldal tells Dagbladet.

UP has internally investigated the case. It is not disputed that the police officer actually read a document in the car, but the range was very limited, Hasseldal emphasizes.

– Our drivers are very aware of traffic. The official chose here to take a quick look at a list of license plates to check a car in front that could be of interest to the police, he explains.

– misunderstandings

– But isn’t it surprising that the audience reacts to such behavior?

– I understand that the audience is concerned about this, but there are many misunderstandings here. Mobile phone use is one thing, which has its own regulations, implying a punitive response as long as you hold it and use it while driving, Hasseldal says.

– 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 manager of UP 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 name calling or near accident. There was nothing here to indicate that the driver had an unconscious unconscious.

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– Equality before the law

The head of the UP 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 had no effect, emphasizes Hasseldal.

Eyewitness Transeth accepts Hasseldal’s explanation of the application of section 3: that a dangerous situation must have arisen. However, he criticizes the fact that the UP driver has apparently been quickly believed in his explanation that he took a quick look at the license plate list.

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– If he only sat with private papers, he could only say that, thinks the 30-year-old.

Transeth also believes that there is a logical flaw in the legislation, as a quick glance at the documents avoids prosecution, while any use of a handheld mobile phone is punished.

– The sense of sight is the key. If you sit and drive and have your mobile phone on the seat, and you pick it up with a clear answer button and hold it close 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.