Six people died in fatal accidents on E16 in Voss and in Steigen – the worst accident day in many years – NRK Vestland

On Sunday, there were two fatal accidents on Norwegian roads. In Voss and in Steigen. A total of six people died.

In addition, a lifeless man was found in Grenland, who was lying in the roadway with a motorcycle. Monday night it was confirmed that the person died.

This makes Sunday the worst accident day on Norwegian roads since 2014, and may happen since 2001.

It shows figures from the Emergency Police and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

Here is an overview of the worst accident days in the 2000s:

Since 1977, it has had a total of 17 of us accident days with 7 or more fatalities.

In 1988, 15 people died when a Swedish tourist bus drove into the mountain wall in Måbødalen in Eidfjord in Hordaland (see fact box).

– A horrible day for the traffic

– Yesterday was a horrible day for the traffic and for the death toll on Norwegian roads. It will be with us for many years to come. It is not nice to be part of such a statistic, says Hans-Erik Ringkjøb (Labor Party), who is mayor of Voss.

In 2018, the E16 between Bergen and Voss was named «Norway’s worst road». The jury characterized the road as “life-threatening” and added that “thousands of people drive with their hearts in their throats every single day”.

The mayor of Voss has long fought for a safer way to Bergen, but will not link yesterday’s accident to the political struggle.

– Now we have to think about those who are in the middle of a traumatic situation. We know we have to live with today’s road and rail for many more years, so people have to drive carefully. That’s all we can say.

– It has been a terrible weekend, says Cecilie Bryner in Trygg Trafikk.

37 deaths so far this year

On Monday, the accident statistics showed that 37 lives have been lost on Norwegian roads so far this year.

Last year, 87 people died in accidents on Norwegian roads. In 2020, the number was 93.

These are the only two years in recent times where less than 100 people have lost their lives in traffic.

On Monday morning, the police could not say more about the course of events and the cause of the accident when two foreigners died in a collision between three cars on the E16 in Voss.

– Relatives have been notified, says Olav Otterdal.

Harald Rongen is an operations manager in Voss fire brigade.

– I have unfortunately seen many fatal accidents. But this was one of the ugliest, he says to BA.

The AIBN has started an extended preliminary investigation

On the same day, the AIBN announced that they have started an extended preliminary investigation of the accident in Nordland.

“After a quarter of an hour, we will conduct an investigation of the city of the accident and the vehicles involved,” department director Ingvild Ytrehus told NRK.

This year it is 20 years since the Storting adopted a vision of no fatalities or serious injuries in road traffic (the “zero vision”).

– We must stop patting ourselves on the back and brag that we have the safest vegans in Europe. On the way, we have more than 1000 kilometers of high-traffic roads that are not safe as meeting-free roads, says Geirr Tangstad-Holdal, daily camper in the Traffic Safety Association.