Swede threatened for not speeding
Posted by African Press International on January 2, 2008
This was in 2005: The Swede threatened by a restless Norwegian truck driver. He ended up being sentenced.
Now the Supreme Court has a case to decide on whether speed cameras used by the police are reliable or not.
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The old story of an agitated Norwegian!:
A Swedish motorist was terrified to learn that holding to the speed limit can be risky when driving in front of an irritable Norwegian trucker. The 29-year-old Norwegian truck driver was given an 18-day suspended sentence and fined NOK 10,000 (USD 1580) for finally threatening the Swedish driver with a 30 centimeter (foot) long blade, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports.
The Swede told the court that he was aware that the speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph) was often ignored in that stretch of the E6 highway to Halden, but wanted to be safe because of the many speeding cameras in the area.
After mounting irritation, the trucker decided to try and pass the Swede on the right when the road finally branched into two lanes. At the same time, the Swedish motorist decided to move into the slower lane in order to allow the truck to pass him on the left.
The truck driver interpreted this maneuver as an attempt to block him, and began tailgating and flashing his headlights, which the Swede said both disturbed and frightened him.
When traffic ground to a halt near Halden, the Norwegian trucker sped towards the smaller vehicle, swung past and then stopped. The trucker exited, started banging on the window and finally started waving a large knife at the motorist.
The Swede called police, who stopped the Norwegian and found the knife in the truck cabin.
Halden court ruled that there were no extenuating circumstances and that a professional driver should be expected to uphold high traffic standards.
Lifted and published by Korir, API/APN africanpress@chello.no source.aftenposteneng.2005