Police often stop people watching television while sitting behind the wheel of a car.
‘It is often men over 45 years of age doing this. They drive their cars and watch skating, and soccer matches on laptops or mobile phones,’ said District Manager, Øystein Krogstad of the Southern Police District (UP) to NRK news.
Incredibly, over the past two years, UP in the Southern region have stopped dozens of motorists where the driver has been watching a mobile phones screen or laptop while driving a car.
‘We’ve also received some tips from younger people telling us about their parents. At secondary schools, there are young people who talk about parents watching television while they are driving.
This is a new and negative trend’ said Krogstad.
He doesn’t like the explanations given by the drivers taken watching the telly while driving.
“They think this is completely safe. They follow the same road as they are driving along on screen.
But it doesn’t matter, as this must often go wrong”, said the district manager.
While there have been fewer accidents involving younger drivers, there is an increase in the number of accidents involving men aged between 45 and 64 years old.
‘It has increased by almost 10% in 10 years, and it is not a random change’, said Krogstad.
But he added that mobile phone use alone is not the sole reason for this development.
‘There are several factors that play into this development. Many in this age group have a good economy,and don’t have a care in the the world about fines. They drive expensive and safe cars. This also applies to mobile phone and screen use while driving, which, of course, is distracting,’ said Øystein Krogstad.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
