Norwegian Campaign Uses Mums To Deliver Important Road Safety Message

In the attempt to create awareness of Norway’s challenging driving conditions, the Norwegian authorities and the road haulage sector have used the one person that they know the drivers will listen to the most – their mothers.

Every 24 hours, 3,000 lorries cross the border into Norway, where one out of three lorry drivers are foreign. To create a dialogue, increase knowledge of road safety and the unique driving conditions encountered on the Norwegian roads, they now present the campaign video “Mother presents”.

“The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of working conditions in Norway and driving conditions on the Norwegian roads,” said Ingrid Finboe Svendsen, director of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority – one of the organisations behind the public awareness campaign.

“It is also important to show foreign lorry drivers that the Norwegian authorities are trustworthy and dependable.

“It has been a challenge for the authorities to get in touch with lorry drivers from Eastern Europe. So we asked ourselves the question: ‘Who are they going to listen to?’”

Check out the campaign video, where we meet Polish lorry driver, Lukasz Gorzynik and his mother, Anna Corzynik, joining him in his truck on his way to Norway:

Foreign lorry drivers are not used to Norway’s challenging driving conditions, and are consequently three times more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident. Many of these drivers are also underpaid because they are not aware of their rights as employees.

In Norway there are approximately 35 per cent more fatalities per capita from road traffic accidents involving heavy goods vehicles compared with the European average, according to Fafo and the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics.

“Foreign lorry drivers are important for Norway, and they are very welcome here on the Norwegian roads. Nonetheless, Norway is a unique country with slippery, steep, winding and narrow roads,” Finboe Svendsen added.

“Lorry drivers must be well-prepared; if not, they risk finding themselves in dangerous situations on the road. Our hope is that this public awareness campaign will be of help to those foreign lorry drivers whose work brings them to Norway.”

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