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Norway trebles fine for using mobile phone at the wheel

Motorists who use mobile phones while driving will from January 2021 face fines of 5,000 kroner and three points on their license.

Published: 11 December 2020 15:31 CET

Norway trebles fine for using mobile phone at the wheel

Photo: Damir Kopezhanov on Unsplash

The government decided on Friday to significantly increase the punishment for using a mobile (without using hands free technology) while driving, VG reports.

“It must sting if you are caught using your mobile while driving your car,” transport minister Knut Arild Hareide told VG.

Under current rules, the offence can result in a fine of 1,700 and two driving licence points (prikker).

An accumulation of eight points within three years results in a six-month driving ban.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about driving in Norway

“There must be a deterrent effect, so people take this seriously,” Hareide said.

“We introduced the two points and 1,700-kroner fine and thought it would be significant, but we can see that the measure is less that we thought. That’s why we must show there are consequences for breaking the rules,” the minister continued.

The head of the National Mobile Police Service (Utrykningspolitiet, UP) backed the harsher punishment.

“We don’t think that 1,700 and two points has enough deterrent effect and positive that it has now been decided to increase this to 5,000 and more points from two to three,” the head of UP, Steven Hasseldal, told VG.

“When you are driving a car, you should be concentrating on that. We forget quite easily that one of the most dangerous things we do, both for ourselves and others, is to get in the car,” Hareide said.

The rules against mobile use also apply when waiting in traffic or at a red light, according to a supreme court ruling from this year.

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How to tell if a parking ticket in Norway is valid

A bright yellow menace found attached to the wipers of cars all over Norway, parking tickets can be pretty hefty.

Not all parking tickets issued in Norway are valid, meaning that in some cases, you won’t need to pay them. To avoid rogue providers exploiting motorists with bogus tickets, the Norwegian government introduced universal parking regulations in 2017.

In short, the measures laid out by the Ministry of Transport and Communications ensure that the public has clear knowledge of when a parking ticket is valid and must be paid and when it can be appealed.

Car parks and parking areas where anyone can park for payment, within a time limit, or under other conditions must be registered in the national parking register. If the area isn’t registered, the vehicle owner can’t be issued a ticket.

If you do get a ticket and wish to check whether the area can be used for parking, you can check on the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s website.

READ ALSO: The punishments for Norway’s most common traffic offences

Furthermore, there are rules on what a parking ticket must contain for it to be valid. The fine must have information about how to contact the company, what you have done to get a ticket, how you can complain and your deadline for complaining.

Any parking fines must also allow the recipient to go through the appeal process before payment is collected, provided the ticket holder applies within the appeal deadline.

If the fine doesn’t contain all the above information, or the car park isn’t in the national register, it isn’t valid.

Tickets are also considered invalid if the parking area is not signposted correctly or if the signs are difficult to understand.

There’s also some good news for those who struggle with punctuality. A fine should be waived if the ticket was issued within five minutes of the parking expiring. Tickets can also be scrubbed if there is no payment machine in a car park.

Appealing fines

If you receive a ticket that you feel was invalid, you will need to first appeal to the parking company. If the appeal is rebuffed, or you do not receive an answer from the parking firm, you must raise your complaint with the Norwegian Parking Appeal Tribunal. Information on the Norwegian Parking Appeal Tribunal can be found in English.

Why you’ll receive a fine

Tickets are issued for breaking the parking area’s terms and conditions. Sometimes, honest mistakes can also result in tickets. For example, you can be fined at car parks with car reg systems if you enter a single letter or number incorrectly.

You’ll also receive a yellow slip if your parking breaks general traffic regulations.

“If you have parked in violation of the Road Traffic Act, the traffic rules or the sign regulations, you can also receive a parking fine. Such a violation can be, for example, if you park where public signs prohibit parking or stopping, you park at intersections, on sidewalks, too close or on footpaths or in cycle lanes. It is mainly the municipality that issues this type of fine, and in these cases, the parking regulations do not apply,” Halgeir Jansen from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration said in a press release, issuing driver advice.

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