Double-checked traffic – got driver's license confiscated

The member had the right of way, and despite looking twice in the direction the car was coming from, he did not notice the car. The car had probably been in his blind spot both times. He lives right next to the county road, and drives onto this road every morning with his truck. Similar incidents have never occurred before, but this morning he was unlucky. Fortunately, the traffic accident only resulted in material damage to the car, and no injuries.

When the police arrived at the scene, they confiscated the member's driver's license on the spot. He then contacted the Norwegian Professional Traffic Association and received assistance from associate attorney Anniken Aune.

– I was with him in the temporary processing of the driver's license seizure in the district court at the beginning of June. The district court decided that the police could no longer keep his driver's license. The judge considered that our member had a great need for the driver's license in order to be able to do his job at all, and considered that he did not pose a traffic hazard. The judge therefore considered that there was no basis for a temporary seizure of the driver's license beyond the three weeks he had already been without a driver's license, says Aune.

When a driver's license is confiscated, there are two processes. The first thing to be decided is whether you can keep your driver's license until the case itself is decided in court. In this case, the member was allowed to keep his driver's license until the trial which took place in September.

Got a fine and kept my driver's license

The trial was held at the end of September and he pleaded not guilty to violating Section 31 of the Road Traffic Act, which states that one must drive with consideration and be alert and careful so that no danger or damage can arise and so that other traffic is not unnecessarily obstructed or disturbed. The prosecutor in the case also believed that the member should lose the right to hold a driver's license for a period of three months.

After the trial, he was sentenced to pay a fine of 10,800 kroner for violating the duty to give way, but he was not subject to a driver's license seizure beyond the three weeks he had already been without a driver's license immediately after the incident. The judge justified this with the consideration that the member has a strong need for the driver's license and that it would also affect his children if he lost his driver's license. In addition, the court emphasized that the driver got his driver's license back at the beginning of June, and had had it since then.

– The member is in a situation where he is completely dependent on his driver's license both in his job and in his free time, and was very relieved that he avoided any more driver's license confiscations than the three weeks he had before the summer, concludes Aune.