Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård asks why police checks should be notified. The answer is simple: Because it saves lives.
Every day, an estimated 140,000 trips are made while driving under the influence of alcohol on Norwegian roads. This is a serious social problem that requires effective and targeted measures – and Safedrive wants to be part of the solution.
Safedrive has invited UP to collaborate – and wants far more drug tests.
Everyone knows that drugs and driving do not go together. Yet police figures show that two percent drive under the influence of drugs. That equates to 140,000 drugged drivers on the roads – every day. It is easy to believe that most drugged drivers are under the influence of alcohol, but the fact is that there are five times more drugged and drugged drivers than alcohol.
Drunk driving is a contributing factor in 20% of all fatal accidents, and 31 people are reported for drunk driving every day. Yet we know that the hidden figures are large, and that many drunk drivers are never stopped. Random breathalyzer tests are not enough to overcome the problem. Figures from the police show that almost half of those stopped for drunk driving are caught based on tips from the public – not through random checks.
If the government really wants to catch more drunk drivers, they should strengthen pure drunk driving enforcement instead of mixing it with speed enforcement. Mixing speed enforcement and drunk driving enforcement is also not an effective strategy.
Should you have to drive too fast to be tested for intoxication?
Many Norwegians drive under the influence of substances. A remarkably large proportion of these individuals do so due to the effects of strong medication.
Drunk driving has nothing to do with traffic. We completely agree with that. At Safedrive, we are clear that drug tests should not be reported through our service, and that violating our guidelines will result in exclusion from our service. We are in no way taking this issue lightly.
That is precisely why we have wanted to establish cooperation with the authorities in this area. We have invited UP to a collaboration where we can block notifications in certain areas if drug tests are carried out. This can also be done in other sharp assignments the police carry out in traffic. This is practiced in other European countries, and has proven to be very effective. We have repeatedly requested a meeting with both the Ministry of Transport and UP to discuss such solutions, but this has unfortunately been rejected.
With hundreds of thousands of users on the roads every day, Safedrive also has a unique opportunity to contribute to road safety. We see far more than a few patrol cars can alone, and we want to use this strength to make the roads safer. We at Safedrive have both the technology and the user base to make a significant difference to this societal problem.
All we need is a little cooperation from the authorities.
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