Foreign drivers "escape Swedish speeding fines"
Foreign drivers who exceed the speed limit are not being fined when caught by Swedish speeding control cameras because of a lack of cooperation between international police forces.
Speed control cameras will nearly double in number within the next few years, but the new cameras will do little to stop foreign speeding offenders. According to Stellan Lander, a traffic police officer in Örebro, photographs of foreigners caught speeding are tossed directly into the garbage can.
“As things stand today, traffic police are working together with Denmark and Norway. But Finland and other parts of Europe are not cooperating,” Lander told Swedish Radio.
About 25 percent of speeding offenders who are captured on camera do not receive tickets. As well as foreigners, motorcycles which do not require license plates, and drivers that succeed in concealing their faces when their photograph is taken also escape penalties.
“To get any kind of credible supervision the law must be uniform, no matter which nationality a person is. Therefore we must find some kind of way to increase cooperation,” said Carlson.
Experience shows that speeds are generally lowered and numbers of deaths are reduced on roadways where cameras are present.
But according to Örjan Brodin, who is responsible for the traffic committee of the National Police Board, the problem with foreign drivers will not be worked out for at least a couple years.
Erin Earley
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Speed control cameras will nearly double in number within the next few years, but the new cameras will do little to stop foreign speeding offenders. According to Stellan Lander, a traffic police officer in Örebro, photographs of foreigners caught speeding are tossed directly into the garbage can.
“As things stand today, traffic police are working together with Denmark and Norway. But Finland and other parts of Europe are not cooperating,” Lander told Swedish Radio.
About 25 percent of speeding offenders who are captured on camera do not receive tickets. As well as foreigners, motorcycles which do not require license plates, and drivers that succeed in concealing their faces when their photograph is taken also escape penalties.
“To get any kind of credible supervision the law must be uniform, no matter which nationality a person is. Therefore we must find some kind of way to increase cooperation,” said Carlson.
Experience shows that speeds are generally lowered and numbers of deaths are reduced on roadways where cameras are present.
But according to Örjan Brodin, who is responsible for the traffic committee of the National Police Board, the problem with foreign drivers will not be worked out for at least a couple years.
Erin Earley
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