Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson held a press conference in Stockholm on Wednesday.
Tougher fines for driving with the wrong tires – and changed rules for studded tires. There are two measures that the government is proposing after Tuesday’s snow chaos.
The sudden snowy weather on Tuesday became a deja vu experience for South Sweden’s motorists. With the E22 chaos fresh in the mind, traffic was once again at a standstill on the motorways. Some had to wait in lines all night.
That is why Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson prematurely canceled his stay in Brussels, where he had a meeting with the EU’s transport ministers scheduled, among other things, to be on site in Sweden.
During a press conference on Wednesday evening, he put forward some proposals for measures to prevent this from happening again.
Much of the blame for the chaos that ensued this week is attributed to motorists themselves. Several of them reportedly went out into the blizzard even though they had already changed to summer tires – and the minister is clear about this.
– Anyone who has summer tires on their car should under no circumstances go out where there are winter road conditions, he says, and adds that this also applies to truck drivers.
– A significant part of the stops that have taken place on the roads in the past 24 hours have been caused by heavier vehicles that got stuck, he says.
To drive home the message, Andreas Carlson announces that higher fines are to be expected for motorists who are guilty of driving on winter roads with the wrong tires, without mentioning any exact amounts.
He also proposes to change the rules for studded tires, so that motorists are allowed to have them on the car a couple of weeks further into the spring.
Other measures from the government’s side include that the Swedish Transport Administration has been tasked with finding out how winter road maintenance can be improved, something that Andreas Carlson believes is “obviously needed”.
He also does not rule out giving the authorities greater powers to simply close roads if necessary.
Regarding the actual situation out on the roads on Tuesday, Andreas Carlson thinks that things worked better than during the E22 situation at the beginning of the year – an event that prompted sharp criticism from independent investigators against the Swedish Transport Administration’s lack of responsibility.
– We have a fairly unanimous view that cooperation between the authorities has worked significantly better this time. However, no one can be satisfied when drivers are left standing for hours along the roads, he says.
Andreas Carlson does not want to answer who is responsible for the fact that it turned out the way it did after all.
– There are different actors who are responsible for different parts, he says.
He further believes that this type of weather is unusual at this time of year.
– This is the worst weather we have had since 1995. It is difficult to be prepared for it, he says.
