Roadkills in Norway
Norway is a long place to drive through. It is very popular in summer for tourists to drive up to Northern Norway through Finland and then make their way down Norway through vast landscapes and little towns. Just like anywhere in the middle of nowhere, there is a good chance of an encounter with the natives. This can include wildlife but usually they are too smart for the roads. Though, there are times that moose do make a big dent in your car. However, it is the domestics that can do the most damage.
Sheep usually are taken up to the mountains for summer grazing, away from driving tourists. But before they go, and when they come back, there is always the real possibility of getting surrounded by a driving herd. It is not usual to hit a sheep or a cow in Norway, nor ducks, geese or llamas. These are ‘common’ animals that everyone can see anywhere, (although seeing a llama in the Arctic is a little strange, but is now possible), so tourists don’t do the ‘slow drive-by’.
It is, however, uncommon for tourists to see a reindeer. Reindeer in Europe are kept in the very Arctic north. They are usually on their summer pastures during peak tourist season but there are always a few herds that hang around. Reindeer are let to graze along sides of roads and near highways. This is exciting for tourists. They stop to take pictures, often causing a near-miss with the angry Norwegians following them. Norwegians know better than to encourage reindeer. Reindeer are very predictable. Rather than run away from a car, the reindeer will chance it and run across the road to the greener side, right if front of your speeding car. Norwegians zoom past reindeer, keeping a watchful eye and their foot close to the brake. Tourists also have a watchful eye, on the chance to get up close! This can prove to be very expensive.
One might ask ‘why do Sami allow their reindeer to graze along road and highways’? It is not because some reindeer-Samis are idiots but the exact opposite – it is because they are very smart. A reindeer is worth more when it is dead. The Sami get their regular pay at slaughter (which is subsidised by the government). However, when a reindeer is killed on the road by a tourist, the carcass fetches a premium price from the government. A roadkill reindeer is worth the loss. The roadside grazing is a tourist-trap.
Even though the government pays out the herder, there is nothing stopping the Sami from trying to get an initial payout from the guilty tourist who caused the roadkill. If a tourist is caught by the herder they are challenged to pay up. And for some reason it is always the lead reindeer that has been killed. The lead reindeer is worth much more than the other reindeer. The herder will usually demand a premium compensation from the tourist. If the tourist is smart he will barter the herder down. But if it was a Norwegian, he would push the reindeer off the road, get in his car and keep driving. Norwegians, and even tourists, are not required to payout for roadkills. But you can’t blame a Sami reindeer herder for trying, right?
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In Norway, there are still Lefse recipes around from the 1630s! This is supposedly the traditional and original Hardanger recipe used:
Towards the water in a beautiful pocket of leafy oak trees is the Byneset Church.
The darkest day of the year is known as winter solstice.
In the winter we rest.
I always thought that if you killed a reindeer, you had to pay, as same with lambs… That’s what they told me at the driving classes… Hmmm, maybe they just wanted to scare me?
Greetings from Bergen
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from L-Jay:
There is no such rule to say that you have to pay a fine, etc for hitting an animal, however, all accidents have to be reported (otherwise you cannot claim damage on your own car). If you hit a native animal you are supposed to call the authorities so they can remove it. Killing a domestic animal that is running free along the road is the owners responsibility to look after them – whether it be a cat, sheep or reindeer. It is courteous to pay (if you know who the owner is and they are not trying to scam you), but not necessary. For instance, my dog cost 12000 crowns (about US$2500). Who would really pay that if they ran over our dog? I guess that’s what dog insurance is for.
There is no such discussion in the Norwegian Driver’s Licence manual.
I remember very clear they told me: if you crash with an animal, any animal, is ALWAYS your fault and you have to pay… Anyway, they told me ” anything I would drive on will be my fault, from animals to rocks and drunk people walking in a small road in the middle of nowhere without a refleks in a could and dark january night”… Always my fault, that’s one of the reasons I am terrified of driving here… Hmm, I am gonna have a little chat with my husband about it.
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from L-Jay:
I’ve found that driving instructors promote old wives tales. And some have funky ideas about driving. My instructor in Tromsø taught me that on round-a-bouts, if you are going straight through, you have to go on the inside lane and then change lanes inside the round-a-bout to get off. He also said that if you don’t plan on turning off a road then you should stay on the inside lane. They also say that everyone has to go through an ice driving test before you can get your license. I didn’t (and I think I should of had to being an Australian…lol). Moose’s driving test was to drive to the tester’s house to pick up some documents and drive him back to the office. In my test in Tromsø, I came out of the tunnel and went on the outside lane of a round-a-bout to turn off the first exit. Going round I then realised that the first exit was 3/4 of the way around the round-a-bout. I said ‘oops’! The instructor says ‘I know, it’s a problem, with this one you have to drive on the inside lane’. I asked ‘how do you know to do that if you have never driven it before?’ and she said ‘you can’t’. There are many road rules in Tromsø that you only know because of memory. Because of this, authorities are very lenient. How can you be busted for speeding if a sign is covered up by snow? In Tromsø there is a street you are not allowed to drive down in the city – there is no sign telling you this – the locals only know about it because there used to be a sign….lol. I was even told by my driving instructor to keep the rule even though there wasn’t a sign because I’d get bad marks for it…lol. Crazy. It is not fare if the only way you can follow the road rules is if you are a local or can remember the sign 10 years back…lol. Even when you are stuck on an icy hill all the rules go out the window – I got stuck once and the other drivers around me drove left, right, up, down, crossing in front and behind – anyway just to get where they were going. They didn’t wait for me to get out of the way or even allow me to roll back to get another run up. But there are not many police cars cruising in Norway so the likelihood of them catching you doing something odd is very slim. Driving is certainly one of the things Norwegian authorities are lazy about. They just have to accommodate the Norwegian climate.
When I was driving in Tromsø I never knew who had right of way on all those crossroads in town and outside. I generally just slowed and gave way to most people unless they waved me across. So how is right of way on a crossroad determined in Tromsø?! I didn’t see signs or road markings I was so confused…
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from L-Jay:
In Norway there is the old rule that if there are no signs you always must give way to the right. Even if you are on a bigger road and the other car wants to cross over, you must stop and let him go first. It is a crazy idea. When four cars enter an intersection at the same time (which ALWAYS happens) everyone gets confused – everyone has the right of way and everyone has to stop and wait. Such a rule doesn’t work in many situations and therefore should not be a road rule. (In Oz we have no such rule – every street is marked with a sign – so this weird rule has taken me time to get used to – and I still hate it….lol.)
Ahh okay, thanks for the explanation! It is very confusing, here in the UK we also have signs everywhere telling you what to do
I was surprised to hear that you have Ilamas in Norway as we certainly didn’t have any in the 1940thies when we lived near Bergen. However, since I believe they originally came from the Andes mountains, there is no reason they couldn’t live in northern Norway. There are quite a few being raised in the NW USA, some for pets, some for carrying camping gear for hikers who go on extended trips into mountainous areas. One can have a very comfortable camping trip into the high country when you have an Ilama or two to help carry the supplies. I’m told the Ilama also can be useful as a guardian for for a flock of sheep. They are credited with a keen sense of awareness and will run off predators like fox, stray dogs, or coyotes. It would be interesting to see how they would interact with the raindeer.
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from L-Jay:
There are now many llama farms down south in Norway. They breed them for wool and meat. We are in the process of transferring a llama up to our farm to guard our chickens. Apparently llamas and chickens go well together. And our goshawk will certainly be freaked out by this strange beast….lol.