E-roads (Europaveier)

The Norwegian motorways and highways that are part of the international European road numbering system are called “E-roads” and are designated with the letter E followed by a one- to three-digit number, in white against a green background, on signs and on maps. If you have an older map, it may have some older road numbers, which were replaced by newer E numbers on 17 May 1997.

Fuel consumption (Forbruk)

The fuel consumed by a motor vehicle is stated in litres per mil (10 km). If you are accustomed to thinking in terms of miles per gallon, you may wish to convert. The UK and US gallons differ, so there are two conversion factors:

• miles per UK gallon = 0.354 km/litre
• miles per US gallon = 0.425 km/litre

Conversions to typical figures are:

Helmets (Hjelmer)

Bike helmets, also called crash helmets (styrthjelm), must be worn by motorcycle and moped drivers and their passengers, except:

• when a motorcycle or moped is at a standstill
• when driving in garages, car parks, petrol stations, workshops or other limited areas
• when a person has a medical certificate of inability to use a helmet.

Helmets should be approved for motorcycle use. Each current make and model of approved helmet has a number that begins with 04 indicating conformance to the European ECE R22-04 standard as well as a serial number, printed on a label affixed to the retention system or comfort interior.

Helmets are recommended, but not obligatory for cyclists. Accident statistics show that a helmet substantially reduces the chance of serious or fatal head injury in a collision or spill. There are no mandatory standards for cycle helmets, but a good helmet meets the minimum requirements for CE marking (Chapter 30). Conformance to various national standards, such as the UK BS6863 or the Swedish KOVFS 1985:6 indicates a reasonable level of protection.

Lights and headlights (Billys og hovedlys)

Whenever a car or other motor vehicle is being driven, its front and back lights must be on, day or night. The lights that meet this requirement are the normal back lights and four varieties of front lights (kjørelys): dipped head lights, reduced-strength dipped headlights, dedicated driving lights and fog or cornering lights. Many cars now are delivered with lights that turn on with the ignition switch, so they cannot be driven with their lights off. Parking lights may be used only when parked or standing still.

All lights must conform to the vehicle construction regulations of the UNECE (Chapter 20). Cars made in Europe for the European market meet the UNECE requirements; cars made elsewhere or for other markets may not. So, if you consider bringing in a car made or sold outside the EEA, you should check to see if its lights meet the UNECE requirements. If not, contact a parts service for your marque and model of car. Most marques now are sold globally, so lights and other parts for specific markets are physically interchangeable. Often, conformance to the UNECE requirement may be as simple as changing a bulb or a lens.

Medicines that affect driving (Trafikkfarlige legemidler)

Many medicines, including tranquilisers (nervemidler), sleeping pills (sovemidler), travel sickness preparations (midler mot reisyke), allergy preparations (midler mot allergi), stronger analgesics (smertestillende midler), strong cough suppressants (hostestillende midler) and relaxants (muskelavslappende midler) may affect your ability to drive. They are marked with a red triangle, with its apex up, on the package, so you easily can identify and avoid them if you intend to drive. Even small amounts of alcohol usually will amplify the effects of many of these medicines and further degrade the ability to drive or perform any other activities requiring coordination and judgement. Depending on the person, other medicines also may affect driving; consult your doctor if in doubt.

Motorcycle clubs (Motorsykkelklubber)

There are some 550 clubs in the country for road motorcyclists, eight in 10 of them members of the Norwegian Motorcycle Union (Norsk Motorcykkel Union, NMCU). In turn, the NMCU is a member of the Nordic Motorcycle Council (NMR) and the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA). In addition to furthering the interests of motorcyclists, the NMCU and its member clubs work with the Public Roads Administration to promote motorcycle safety and ensure quality training of motorcyclists. The NMCU has regional committees in 18 of the country’s 19 counties as well as a staffed head office, which you may contact for information and addresses of clubs, PO Box 351, 1502 Moss, Tel: 69204646, Fax: 69204640, www.nmcu.org, kontoret@nucu.org.

Motorcycles (Motorsykler)

There are nearly 250,000 registered motorcycles in the country, and each year, tens of thousands are sold. Nearly six in 10 are small mopeds with engine displacements up to 50 cubic centimetres (cc). Almost four in 10 are heavy bikes, with engine displacements greater than 125 cc, and one in 20 is a light motorcycle in between the moped and heavy bike classes. Look in the Yellow Pages under motorsykler og mopeder to find the nearest dealer of a particular marque. If you fail to find a dealer or seek a dealer for a marque not advertised in the Yellow Pages, contact the Motorcycle Importers Association (Motorsykkel Importørenes forening), Lilloseterveien 34, 0957 Oslo, Tel: 22163444, Fax: 2216 3445, www.thjul.no, tkaarud@online.no.

Parking (Parkering)

The rules for parking may be general and apply on all streets and roads, or be specific and apply in signed and marked areas.

General parking rules state that you may not stop or park:

• along blind stretches of road (uoversiktlige steder)
• in intersections (veikryss)
• on walkways or cycle paths/lanes (gangfelt og sykkelfelt) or closer than 5 m to them
• along motorways (motorvei)
• on level crossings (planovergang) or rail lines or 5 m from them
• at public transport stops (holdeplasser).

You may stop, but not park:

• in front of a driveway (inn- og utkjøring)
• at a lay-by (møteplass)
• at pedestrian malls (gågater)
• along a priority road (forkjørsvei), including all national roads and most country roads.

Specific parking rules for signed and marked areas, as in cities and towns:

• No stopping: marked by a round blue sign with a red border and a diagonal slash from upper left to lower right.
• No parking: marked by a round blue sign with a red border and crossing diagonal slashes.
• Parking allowed: white letter “P” on a rectangular blue background, usually with validity hours below, such as 08–17 (09–15) maks 3 timer mot avgift which means “8 am to 5 pm Mon–Fri and 9 am to 3 pm Sat, maximum 3 hours against fee paid (as in a parking meter or vendor)”.
• Car parks: white letter “P” on a rectangular blue background at the entrance. The parking rules are stated on signs, usually one at the entrance and several within.

Many cities publish their parking rules in folders, with texts in Norwegian, English, and other languages, available at tourist offices, police stations and some car parks.

Parking fine complaints (Klager på parkeringsbot)

You are entitled to file a complaint if you feel that you have been unjustly fined for a parking violation or that your car has been wrongfully towed away. In cities and towns, municipal agencies enforce public parking regulations, whilst in larger cities, parking companies enforce their own regulations in private car parks. In general, you should file a complaint to the agency or company that issued a parking ticket or towed your vehicle away. With the lion’s share of the country’s urban parking, Oslo has two routes of complaint:

• 1For public parking, the Traffic Authority (Trafikketaten) has a complaints processing section (Klagebehandlingsseksjonen) that accepts complaints in writing to PO Box 9336 Grønland, 0135 Oslo, or via the interactive window in the Authority’s website at www.trafikketaten.oslo.kommune.no.
• 2For private car parks, you should complain first to the company operating the car park. If your complaint is rejected, you may complain in writing within four weeks to the Parking Complaints Board (Parkeringsklagenemda), Nedre Slottsgt 8, 0157 Oslo, Fax: 22335238, eo@advok.no.

Pedestrian reflectors (Personreflekser)

At night, pedestrians, joggers and cyclists are encouraged to wear reflectors, with good reason. In the dark, a pedestrian, jogger or cyclist is first visible to a car with dipped headlights at a distance of 30 metres. At a speed of 50 km/h, the driver then has just two seconds to react, and less time at higher speeds. However, if the person is wearing a reflector, it seems to flash in the lights of the car. The distance of first visibility goes up to 150 metres, which gives the driver more time to react. Nordic country statistics show that persons wearing reflectors are one eighth as likely to be involved in night-time accidents as those not wearing reflectors. Consequently, all Nordic traffic safety organisations recommend them. There are three principal types:

• Retroreflectors are small plastic tokens that usually are fitted with a string and a safety pin, so the token may be pinned into a pocket and taken out at night to dangle and move as you walk. The name “retroreflector” means that the token reflects light back in the direction from which it comes, irrespective of the angle involved. Rectroreflectors actually are high-tech devices and are used in advanced applications such as laser surveying. A retroreflecting cube was left on the moon to allow accurate measurement of its distance from the earth using a laser. The more down-to-earth applications include car rear reflectors, traffic signs and road markings. Pedestrian retroreflectors are made in many shapes and sizes. The most common shape is a circle, about six centimetres in diameter. The other shapes include squares, rectangles, snowflakes, teddy bears and animal shapes familiar to children. Some are fitted with clips to attach to bicycle spokes or tape to adhere to jogging clothing. Pedestrian retroreflectors are sold in petrol stations, sports shops and supermarkets. But most are given away free as advertising for shops and companies as well as public agencies, including schools and the police. Each year, several hundred thousand free advertising retroreflectors are given away and used in the Nordic countries.
• Slap-wrap reflectors are strips of flexible synthetic rubber, coated on one side with 3M Scotchlite high-gloss reflective material. As the name indicates, you slap the reflector against your arm, and it wraps around to hold itself firmly in place. Many designs and colours are available. The most common is a simple strip, about 3 × 34 cm, coloured yellow or orange. Other designs have printed letters or drawings to promote their use by children.
• Reflecting vests and bands on clothing are widely used, not only by pedestrians but also by police, road workers, construction workers and others who need to be seen in poor visibility conditions.

Most of the retroreflectors sold and given away in Norway are made by two companies. Grønneviken Industrier, Herman Gransvei 5, 5162 Laksevåg, Tel: 55948820, Fax: 55348101, www.gronneviken.no, firmapost@gronneviken.no, is a vocationally disadvantaged workplace initiative company that produces pedestrian retroflectors and other plastic items. Talmu, produced by Hella Lignting Finland, FIN-24820 Salo, Finland, Tel: +358 277551, Fax: +358 27755500, www.talmu.fi, info@hella.fi, is owned by Hella KG of German, a major manufacturer of automotive lighting and electronics products. Talmu makes both retroreflectors and slap-wrap bands.

Children’s clothing shops and department stores now have selections of children’s outdoor clothing with reflecting bands. Almost all items of outdoor work-clothing now have reflecting bands. Sewing and needlecraft shops usually offer selections of reflecting bands that can be sewn onto clothing. Sports goods shops and cycle shops sell reflective clothing and light reflecting vests to be put on over clothing.

Penalty points (Prikkbelastning)

Certain driving offences can result in endorsement of your driving licence with penalty points.

Penalty points last three years from the date of the offence. Under a totting-up provision, if you accumulate eight or more points within three years, you will lose your driving licence for six months. Nonetheless, the courts have limited authority to make exceptions to that rule. When your driving licence is reinstated after a six-month loss, the existing points will be removed from it. The penalty points are:

• Speeding: exceeding a 60 km/h or less speed limit by 10 km/h or more or exceeding a 70 km/h or more speed limit by 15 km/h or more: endorsement with 1–2 penalty points.
• Going through a red light: endorsement with 2 penalty points.
• Unlawful overtaking: endorsement with 2 penalty points.
• Failure to yield to traffic from right or at a yield sign: endorsement with 2 penalty points.

Periodic vehicle inspection (Periodisk kontroll av personbiler)

As elsewhere in Europe, almost all registered motor vehicles must be periodically inspected for roadworthiness and emissions. The inspection is in accordance with EEA agreements and EU directives as administered by UNECE (Chapter 20), so it is commonly called EØS kontroll (”EEA inspection”). Private cars and vans up to 3,500 kg are inspected first when four years old and thereafter every other year. Buses and taxis, regardless of weight, and all other motor vehicles and trailers over 3,500 kg are inspected once a year. Vehicles registered before 1 January 1960 are exempt from inspection, as are vehicles registered for exclusive off-road use and rally race cars (black number plates), military vehicles (gold number plates), diplomatic vehicles (blue number plates) and farm tractor trailers. The last number of a car’s number plates determines the year and last month for inspection. If the number is odd, inspection is in odd years: 2005, 2007 etc. If the number is even, inspection is in even years: 2006, 2008 etc. The number itself indicates the last month when the inspection can be performed: 1 for January, 2 for February and so on, to 0 for October, save for 7, which designates November, as there is no inspection deadline in the peak summer holiday month of July, though you may have your car inspected then if you wish.

Two months before its last month for inspection, the nearest Motor Vehicle Station will send you a written notice calling your car in. You then have three months to call and make an appointment and have the car inspected. Inspection may be performed by the local Trafikkstasjon or by any one of 1,800 authorised car repair shops (bilverksteder) across the country. There is a charge for inspection, which varies among car repair shops but is the same for all Trafikkstasjoner across the country. The results of the inspection are reported on a standard inspection form (Kontrollseddel) to the Trafikkstasjon where the car is registered.

The form is a check list of 84 items (not all applicable to passenger cars) in eight categories. If a car passes the inspection, it is recommended for approval (godkjenning) and the original Kontrollseddel is given to the owner to keep with the registration (vognkort) in the car. A car that fails the inspection must be repaired and then taken to the Trafikkstasjon for inspection.

Petrol (Bensin)

Petrol is sold in three principal varieties, none leaded:

• 98 octane with lubricating additives (98 bensin), with red signs and hose nozzle collars on pumps.
• 95 and 92 octane with no additives (blifri), with green signs and hose nozzle collars on pumps.

Sale of leaded petrol ceased across the country on 31 December 1995. So the word blifri (”unleaded”) is outdated. But it persists, both in everyday language and in signs on pumps in petrol stations. So when you see blifri, regard it to mean “no additives”.

The price of petrol is high but not the highest in Europe. As this book goes to press, the long-term average price of a litre of 95 octane petrol is NOK 9.00, of which NOK 2.62 is the price of the petrol, NOK 4.64 is tax and NOK 1.74 is VAT. So 71% of the price of petrol is tax.

Petrol stations compete and prices differ by location, season of the year and day of the week. Occasionally there are petrol price wars (bensinkrig). In general, the unattended stations have the lowest prices, which are often matched, or nearly so, by competing attended stations nearby. So to save most when filling up, look for an unattended station or an attended station near it.

Petrol stations (Bensinstasjoner)

Eight companies together have some 1,900 petrol stations. With 585, Shell has the most, followed by Statoil with 458, Esso with 418 and Hydro-Texaco with 407. Most petrol stations are manned and have convenience shops, and some are open all day. But unmanned stations are increasingly common. Smart, a subsidiary of Shell, has 50 stations. Jet, part of the Jet Group founded by Bill Rogers in the UK, takes its name not from an aircraft fuel, but rather for the prefix of vehicles registered in Mr Rogers’s native Rotherham, Yorkshire, and has 40 stations.

All petrol stations are self-service and accept credit cards, bank debit cards or their own proprietary charge cards, often at the pumps, and cash at some Automats and at the till during opening hours. Almost all petrol stations in the country sell diesel fuel and three varieties of petrol. Many also sell paraffin oil and tax-free diesel for non-road use. For locations of stations, look under the names of the companies in the Pink Pages or view their Internet sites: Conoco Jet www.jet.no, Esso www.esso.no, Hydro-Texaco www.hydrotexaco.no, Shell www.shell.no, and Statoil www.statoil.no.

Practice driving (Øvelseskjøring)

For persons 16 years and older, there are four ways to acquire the practical driving skills required for taking the driving licence test:

• 1Gain complete training at a driving school (kjøreskole)
• 2Practice driving, as with one of your parents
• 3Some practice at a driving school and some private
• 4Cooperative training between a driving school and your parents.

Regardless of which of these four alternatives you may choose, you must complete the mandatory minimum of the driver training programme. A car with a practice driver behind the wheel must indicate that learning is going on by displaying a 15 cm square, red letter “L” on its boot or in its back window. Car parts shops and petrol stations sell this sign in flexible, magnetised plastic that sticks to a boot lid much as a refrigerator magnet does to a refrigerator door. Remember to remove the L after practice driving.

Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen)

The Public Roads Administration plans, builds and maintains the national and county road networks, maintains vehicle registration, conducts and supervises vehicle inspection, supervises driver training and conducts driver testing and licensing. It conducts its work in five regions: Northern, Central, Western, Southern and Eastern, with intervening borders like those between the Regional Health Authorities (Chapter 21).

In each region there are Road Depots (Vegstasjon) and Motor Vehicle Stations (Trafikkstasjon), 92 in all. You can find them listed in the Pink Pages under Statens vegvesen. You may contact the road depots for information on road works, road traffic and weather conditions and the like. If you drive a car, you probably will deal most often with the Motor Vehicle Stations that inspect vehicles, process vehicle sale and transfer documents and issue car number plates, and examine for and issue driving licences.

Relicensing fee (Omregistrerings-avgift)

If you buy a used car or trailer, you are required to pay a relicensing fee before you can register it in your name. The fee depends on car weight in four classes and age in five categories and ranges from NOK 1,367 for all cars 12 years or more old up to NOK 19,536 for a new, heavy (over 1,600 kg) car no more than one year old.

Road Federation (Opplysningsrådet for veitrafikken)

The Norwegian Road Federation is an association of private and public organisations concerned with motor vehicles, roads and traffic. It compiles relevant statistics and is best known for its regular listings of new motor vehicle sales. For further details and limited non-member access to its statistics, contact OFV, Dronningensgt 17, PO Box 88 Sentrum, 0101 Oslo, Tel: 22403240, Fax: 22403232, www.ofv.no, firmapost@ojv.no.

Road maps (Vei kart)

Book shops, kiosks and petrol stations offer selections of road maps. The two leading map publishers are the Norwegian Mapping Authority, a government agency, and Cappelen Map (see Maps and Charts, Chapter 31), a domestic publisher with its own map-making division.

Road user information (Vegmeldinger)

Current road information (vegmeldinger) is made available via:

• radio announcements, national and local
• RDS-TA (Radio Data System, Traffic Announcement) on the NRK PI channel
• Text TV, NRK 1 TV page 350
• the Public Road Administration website at www.vegvesen.no
• operators at Road Traffic Centre, Tel: 175 within the country or Tel: +47 81548991 from abroad.

Roads network (Veier)

In all, there are 91,916 km of principal public roads in the country. Of the total, about 40% are local authority roads (kommunale veier), 30% county roads (fylkes veier) and 30% national roads (riksveier). About 8,900 km of the national roads, including the international E-roads, are classified as trunk roads (stamveier), which, though they make up a small percentage of the roads network, carry about half of all traffic. In all, 664 km of the trunk roads are motorways. A motorway is a highway with restricted access from other roads. It is for motor vehicles only; pedestrians and cyclists are not allowed. There are two types of motorway in Norway:

• 1Class A motorway (Motorveg klasse A), with no level intersections with other roads and having two or more lanes in each direction and a median strip or barrier dividing the directions.
• 2Class B motorway (Motorveg klasse B), which may have level intersections with minor roads, has one lane in each direction and has no physical separation between the directions.

Compared even to some smaller countries, the total network is modest, the 19th longest in Europe. But though the cities are congested as are cities elsewhere, the overall road network is among the least congested in Europe, just 25 motor vehicles per kilometre of road. Complete information on the country’s roads is maintained in the National Road Database (Nasjonal Vegdatabank, NVDB) of all public and private roads, some 206,000 km in all, supported by the Public Roads Administration.

Seat belts (Bilbelter)

Save for some veteran cars, seat belts are fitted in all cars, trucks and many buses, and must be used, except:

• when a car is at a standstill
• in reversing
• when driving in garages, car parks, petrol stations, workshops or other limited areas
• in low-speed driving with frequent stops, such as to deliver mail or newspapers, pick up refuse and so on
• when a person has a medical certificate of inability to use a seat belt
• for drivers of taxis in service.

Infants and children should be seated in a carrier or portable child restraint seat (CRS) fitted to the adult diagonal and lap seat belt of a car and approved to the UNECE (Chapter 20) standard. There are five categories:

• Group 0: age 0–9 months, weight 0–10 kg
• Group 0+: age 0–18 months, weight 0–13 kg
• Group 1: age 9 months–4 years, weight 9–18 kg
• Group 2: age 4 –7 years, weight 15–25 kg
• Group 3: age 6–11 years, weight 22–36 kg.

Some of the Group 0 carriers and seats are designed to travel rearward facing in the front seat (unless a passenger airbag is fitted) or in the rear seat. Children age 12 and younger or shorter than 140 cm should not sit in a seat where an airbag is fitted. However, if a child must sit in a seat with an airbag, the airbag legally may be disabled and then enabled at some later date, provided the disabling and enabling are entered in the car’s registration card (vognkort). Check with the car brand dealer for the procedure as well as with the nearest traffic station (Trafikkstasjon) for details.