Cops cut fine for 'poor' Swedish truck driver
A truck driver fined for having sub-standard brakes was given a hefty discount by Norwegian police who reckoned the fact he was Swedish meant he probably earned much less money than his colleagues.
Ulf Anders Andersson, 61, was driving a truck for his Norwegian employer when he was pulled over by police.
They concluded the vehicle was a traffic hazard due to its shoddy brakes, and issued an 8,000 ($1,330) kroner fine on the spot last March, newspaper VG reports.
But Andersson later received a surprising letter saying the Norwegian police had taken the fact he was Swedish into consideration, and cut the fine in half "in light of your income level.”
"I’m happy to have got the discount since I’m contesting the fine, but I find it very strange,” he said.
Andersson pointed out that he actually made more than his Norwegian colleagues since he lives over the border in Sweden and benefits from the relative weakness of the Swedish krona.
"They should have been able to figure that out,” he said.
Police did not wish to comment on the case but conceded that foreign drivers occasionally have their fines reduced since they tend to earn far less than Norwegians.
The Swedes, for their part, have no plans to cut their Norwegian neighbours any slack when it comes to coughing up for traffic violations.
“Norwegians receive exactly the same fines as Swedes,” said traffic police officer Jeanette Olsson in Vänersborg, Sweden.
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Ulf Anders Andersson, 61, was driving a truck for his Norwegian employer when he was pulled over by police.
They concluded the vehicle was a traffic hazard due to its shoddy brakes, and issued an 8,000 ($1,330) kroner fine on the spot last March, newspaper VG reports.
But Andersson later received a surprising letter saying the Norwegian police had taken the fact he was Swedish into consideration, and cut the fine in half "in light of your income level.”
"I’m happy to have got the discount since I’m contesting the fine, but I find it very strange,” he said.
Andersson pointed out that he actually made more than his Norwegian colleagues since he lives over the border in Sweden and benefits from the relative weakness of the Swedish krona.
"They should have been able to figure that out,” he said.
Police did not wish to comment on the case but conceded that foreign drivers occasionally have their fines reduced since they tend to earn far less than Norwegians.
The Swedes, for their part, have no plans to cut their Norwegian neighbours any slack when it comes to coughing up for traffic violations.
“Norwegians receive exactly the same fines as Swedes,” said traffic police officer Jeanette Olsson in Vänersborg, Sweden.
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