Carriage drivers on the Bybanen in Bergen talk about dangerous situations every day

The truck drivers talk about dangerous situations every single day. According to the Skadepoliklinikken, May is the month with the most injuries involving electric scooters.

– A very sad accident, and a sad day at work for all of us truck drivers, says Kristoffer Nornes.

He himself is a light rail driver, and vice-chairman of the Norwegian Confederation of Carriage Drivers’ Club.

Together with several other drivers, he meets BT, the day after a man in his 30s had a fatal collision with Bybanen close to the railway station.

Tide screens the driver

The man, who was driving an electric scooter, ended up under the carriage and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the vehicle in question has the status of a suspect, but the police have been keen to point out that this does not mean that they see reason to blame the driver.

BT has not spoken to the driver who was involved in the fatal accident. Tide says they want to protect the driver.

– Connected all the time

The drivers who meet with BT point out that they are not commenting on what actually happened on Monday.

But they want to show what their everyday life looks like, and to warn those who travel near the Bybanen.

– The problems are especially in the city centre. From Wergeland down to the center it goes from being a separate light rail route with tunnels, to mixed traffic where cars cross the tracks. And you have the soft road users, says Kristoffer Nornes.

He tells of an everyday life where the carriage drivers must be fully connected.

– You read the traffic picture all day. It’s an everyday life full of stress, and many people don’t obey the traffic rules. You have electric kick cyclists and cyclists who cross the track without looking, where it suits them. We have no chance to stop. And then you have those with headsets that can’t hear.

– Not a day without it

Monday’s fatal accident was the third in which Bybanen has been involved since it opened in 2010.

According to the drivers, there are dangerous situations every day.

– Especially when the weather is nice and people come out with bicycles, electric scooters and prams.

Nornes believes there are dark figures when it comes to accidents with electric scooters. We have a clear call for electric kick cyclists:

– They must avoid using the light rail route. It is used today in an unjustifiable way. We sit with our hearts in our throats because of them.

He says that Skyss and Bybanen have tried attitude campaigns, without success.

– Light controls haven’t worked either – people walk right in front of us. A change of attitude is needed.

Experience a lack of respect

He gets support from the other drivers, including Tone Tertnes, who has been a carriage driver for ten years.

– There are quite a few electric kick cyclists who ride in the light rail track. And when they are not in the track, they are often right next to it. Then they like to snow pedestrians on the pavement, and get closer to the light rail track. If they get a small twist on the bike, it can be fatal, says Tertnes.

She says that many electric kick cyclists drive fast and pay too little attention.

Nora Garnes notices that spring has arrived. This means, among other things, more electric kick cyclists.

– They are difficult to read. They can be going one way, and then suddenly they jump off the pavement to avoid slowing down, she says.

The drivers point out that you and I always have to give way to the Bybanen, unless there is a green man.

– It doesn’t seem like everyone respects us. One pings, but instead of going off track, they stop and look at you stupidly. People also have to consider that the Bybanen takes a little more than a meter to stop. It’s a train, says Garnes.

Eight injuries in one day

The accident clinic in Helse Bergen says that the importation of electric scooters has given them more to do.

According to head physician Torbjørn Hiis Bergh, the month we are about to enter tends to be the worst.

– In winter, there is usually one injury involving an electric scooter per week. In spring and summer, there are one to two injuries per day. The worst we’ve had in one day is probably eight.

He says that it is mostly young people who injure themselves. Men are in the majority.

– May is often the worst. I remember 17 May a few years ago, when there were a huge number of injuries to electric scooters.

Bergh points to several points of danger. A helmet is not used. The wheels are small, which makes it easier to injure yourself. Some drive with headsets. Some have passengers in the back. Someone is drunk. And the electric scooters can be driven everywhere.

– In general, I would encourage people to have all their senses open when they are out in traffic.

Tide invites you to a meeting

Tide is the employer of the truck drivers. Director Jørgen Haukås says that they held a general meeting on the same day as the fatal accident.

– We talked, among other things, about the traffic in Kaigaten, the challenges with electric scooters and what concerns our carriage drivers have, says Haukås.

He says that Tide has invited Bybanen AS and Skyss to a meeting.

– We want to focus on safe travel for everyone in traffic, both hard and soft road users, carriage drivers, bus drivers and fellow human beings.