Norway Living
Cars, Roads, and Driving in Norway
The “Good Luck” Road Posted June 2, 2013
Norway is a mountainous country, and there are many miles of rural roads going in, through, and across these mountains.
One common characteristic of the mountain roads here is that they are not all the same width. This is necessary because it is very difficult to construct a full-sized, two-lane road along the edge of a nearly solid rock mountain.
In Norway, there are visible indicators to let you know how wide a road is. If there is a yellow line down the center with solid white lines along both edges of the road, then you know that this is a full-sized, two-lane road. If you drive on your side of the yellow center line, and the traffic coming towards you stays on their side of that center line, then everything should be OK and there should be no problems.
Not all roads are that wide, however, especially in the mountains.
If it becomes necessary to build a narrower road in some places – one that is not a full, two-lane road – there are visual warnings. First, that yellow center line disappears completely; there is nothing to mark the middle of the road. Second, the solid white lines along the edges of the road turn into broken (dotted) white lines. These two clues let you know that there is not enough room for two full traffic lanes. That’s good to know.
What happens in these cases? Well, you must drive as far as you can on the right side of the road, and hope that the driver coming towards you does the same on the other side. If both vehicles are smaller passenger cars (which are common here), then this is usually not a problem – just slow down and be careful when you approach and pass each other.
However, if the traffic coming toward you is a large vehicle (such as a bus or a transport or dump truck, for example), this could be a problem. In these cases, both you and the other vehicle must slow down and pass each other with great caution. Sometimes, one of the vehicles must pull off onto the shoulder of the road in order to allow the other to pass. Occasionally, one vehicle has to stop and back up until they can get to a wider section of the road before there is enough space for the other to pass. What happens if two busses or two transport trucks meet each other? I don’t even want to think about that – I’m just grateful I’m not one of the drivers involved in such a scenario.
There is a mountain road here that I travel nearly every day; it begins at a major two-lane highway that serves a nearby town, and it goes up into the mountains and then down again to connect with another major, two-lane road. Overall, it’s about 30 kilometers in length, and my house is almost seven kilometers up this road from the town.
Let me tell you a little more about this mountain road that goes past my house.
The first thing that concerned me about this road is the speed limit. In Norway, speed limit signs are circular, with a red ring on the outside edge and black numbers on the inside (indicating the speed limit in kilometers-per-hour – kph). The full-sized, two-lane highway that connects to this mountain road has a speed limit of 60 kph (approx. 37 mph). Given the characteristics of that full-sized road, I think that’s a reasonable, safe speed limit. However, at the beginning of this particular mountain road, there is a sign that cancels the 60 kph speed limit. This is done by a sign that shows diagonal stripes across the previous speed limit shown in light grey. In such cases – you are then legally permitted to travel as fast as 80 kph (approx. 50 mph). Compounding this problem is the fact that many people travel much faster than this upper limit. I have seen cars going approximately 100 kph on this road.
Next, the road here is so narrow that you can forget about any center line – this mountain road has never seen a drop of yellow paint along its entire length. Vehicles have needed to use all of the available space of this road on which to travel. Because of this, the dotted white lines along the edges have been completely worn off in many places. Also, there are long stretches along this road that have no shoulders; often there is a solid rock wall along one side, and a guardrail and a sheer drop-off along the other side. Certain parts of this road are so narrow that it is impossible for even two small passenger cars to pass each other. In such cases, one has to back up until they find a wider space to turn off into.
Along with this, there are other characteristics of all mountain roads: sharp curves and bends combined with steep grades, both uphill and down. This often makes it impossible to see very far ahead to know what traffic is coming or what other obstacles might be on the road.
As I drive through these curves and hills, I am often surprised at what I have found. Besides other cars, I have met people walking, bicyclists, people walking bicycles, and people riding horses. I’ve also met trucks of all sizes, busses, farm implements and tractors, along with road maintenance workers and their equipment. A few times, I’ve seen deer running and jumping across in front of me. Only the road maintenance workers will put up signs warning of their presence. The rest are like coming home to a dark, empty house and having people jump out and yell “SURPRISE!” when you turn on the lights.
On two different occasions, I’ve driven around a blind bend to suddenly come upon a car that was stopped nearly in the middle of a particularly narrow section of the road. As I slowed down, I saw that the driver had left his car in the road in order to pick some leaves or flowers (or something) from plants growing on the rock wall at the side of the road. These two cars were from different places; one had a Norwegian license plate on it, and the other had a plate showing it was from the Czech Republic (I don’t know what was so special about the plants growing on that rock face to cause two different cars from two different places to stop and examine them, but maybe I should check it out for myself someday…).
As I’ve mentioned before, some of the drivers on this road go really fast. Perhaps it’s because they are better acquainted with all the twists and turns and ups and downs of this road through their experience on it, or perhaps it’s because they are more skilled drivers than I am. But I don’t have their experience, and I don’t seem to share their skills level, so – in my opinion – I think they’re going too fast. Sometimes, I would joke that it seemed to me that these speeding cars were practicing for the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race in Monte Carlo.
From my house one morning, I noticed a number of cars zooming past with their engines racing. Their high RPMs sounded like loud, buzzing wasps speeding by. As I looked out my window, I noticed that there were many such cars, and they were highly decorated with decals all over tham. I telephoned a neighbor, and found out that there was a local Rally Race occurring that day, and that this 30-km stretch of mountain road was part of the race course. These drivers WERE practice racing on this road.
I did need to go to town that day, so I waited until the afternoon. There was a time block of a couple of hours that there were no race cars going by, so I thought that the race was over and that it was now safe. As I drove into town, however, I was passed by three more race cars. Nothing gets the heart beating fast like seeing a race car speeding up behind you, and sitting within a meter your rear bumper as you desperately try to find some small widening of the road that will enable you to pull over to let it pass.
For all of these reasons, I call this road my “Good Luck Road.” If I can navigate that seven-kilometer stretch to town and back without colliding with an oncoming car, truck, or farm implement, without running into a pedestrian, bicyclist, horse, or deer, then I have been truly lucky.
When particularly bad weather strikes (which occurs with some regularity each winter), then this road becomes even more challenging. Ice-covered pavement and blinding snowstorms (particularly at night), would fall into this category. In those cases, when I finally make it home in one piece (although with nerves frayed), I dub this my “Miracle Road.”
I enjoy travelling on this road; the scenery is beautiful every day, whether it’s raining, snowing, or in the sunshine. And so far, my good luck has held out, and it also seems that there are still a few miracles in my world. Keep your fingers crossed for me…
The Speed Trap Posted June 15, 2013
After living here for over 10 months, I came across my first radar “speed control” here in Norway (or “radar trap” as it would be called in the U.S.). At least, this was the first radar trap that I have seen. There may have been others that I have driven through here, but I was probably going too fast to notice…
No, I didn’t get a ticket. The speed limit was posted at 50 kph, and I was going 48. I know I was going 48 because – when I saw the policeman – I instinctively looked down at my speedometer (a habit learned through many years of highway and street driving in the U.S.).
The radar trap consisted of one officer standing at the side of the road with what appeared to be a radar instrument mounted on a tripod, facing the oncoming traffic. A couple of blocks past him was a rock wall with a hedge on top. At the end of the wall (where it turned the corner) stood two uniformed police officers; an older man and a woman.
I assume that the procedure would be that – when the first officer detected a speeding vehicle – he would radio to the other two officers, who would then step out from behind the wall and flag down the offending vehicle. I don’t know if they had a back-up plan if the speeding driver failed to stop.
I have seen a somewhat similar technique for stopping cars used elsewhere in Europe. When I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, I watched as a single policeman – standing on the side of the busiest street in the city (Nevsky Prospekt) – flagged down and stopped cars that were speeding by. This policeman would blow his whistle, point his baton directly at the offending driver and making eye contact with him, and then point his baton to the street curb near where he was standing. The driver hit his brakes, and, with screeching tires, direct his car through the busy traffic in order to obey the officer’s nonverbal command.
This method apparently works. The day that I went past the radar trap/speed control here, I was on my way to see the dentist. When I got to his office, I told my dentist what I had seen, and he asked where it was. He then said that he had been caught speeding along that same stretch of road several weeks earlier.
I find there is a great difference between the presence of police officers on the streets in Norway as compared to what I was accustomed to seeing in the United States. Here, I can go weeks without seeing a police car driving by, and – as I’ve noted – I have only come across one radar speed control in over 10 months. In the U.S., I would probably come across three radar speed controls on one day of commuting to work.
The Driver's License Saga... Posted June 22, 2013
After living here for about six months, I decided that I probably needed to get my U.S. (Idaho) driver's license changed over to a Norwegian driver's license. As a tourist, you are allowed to use your U.S. driver's license during your vacation in Norway. When you are a resident, however, you will need to obtain a Norwegian driver's license.
In the New in Norway book (described on the Comments and Questions page of this site), it states that this changeover must take place within one year of your official arrival in Norway. In order to exchange your license, different rules apply (depending on which country you are from). Residents from some countries must take - and pass - both written and practical driving examinations in Norway before transferring their driver's license. Residents from several other countries are only required to pass a practical driving test in order to get a Norwegian license. If you are fortunate enough to be from one of two specific countries - Switzerland and Japan - you are not required to take either examination; you just go into the Vegvesen (the Road Department), give them your old driver's license and pay a fee, and your new license will come in the mail within a few days. As a resident from the United States, however, I fell into the second category; a practical driving test was required.
Not a problem, I thought. I started this process - this journey - on December 10, just over six months after my arrival in Norway.
I dutifully came into the Vegvesen office, and stated my purpose. I showed them my Idaho Driver's license (which they confiscated), and they issued me a temporary license, which was valid for three months. The clerk then informed me that I had only been allowed to drive in Norway for the first three months of my residency here, and I had now been driving illegally ever since that time period had expired. When I pointed out that - according to the information from the Vegvesen in the New in Norway book - I was allowed one year from my arrival to complete this process. The clerk brusquely informed me that "They changed the law."
Well, OK, I thought. I should be able to get this done within three months. After all, they wouldn't give me a deadline that was impossible to meet, would they? It's only a practical driving test that I need. No problem.
I was told that I would soon get a letter in the mail, informing me as to what specific requirements I had to meet in order to get the Norwegian driver's license. Never mind what the New in Norway book said, I was to wait for this letter.
"Is there anything I can do while I wait for this letter?" I asked.
"Wait for the letter. It will explain everything."
"I do know that I have to take a driving test. Can I schedule that now?"
"No. Wait for the letter."
I waited for the letter.
One week. Two weeks. No letter. I wondered, Maybe it had been lost in the mail?
I returned to the Vegvesen just before Christmas, and asked about the letter. My paperwork was finally located on the appropriate person's desk, but it had not been acted upon yet and she was gone for the day.
"Should I be doing anything in the meantime?" I asked.
"Just wait for the letter."
Three weeks. Four weeks.
Finally, 'The Letter' arrived! It said that... I had to take the practical driving test.
In Norway, the driving tests are administered by the Vegvesen, but they are scheduled through private driving schools – I found out that I could not schedule this myself. So I immediately contacted the only driving school in my area and explained the situation. While I was at the driving school, the office manager called the Vegvesen to schedule an appointment, and she was promptly put on hold. I waited there with the office manager for over ten minutes, finally leaving her alone with the telephone stuck to her ear (because I had to get to work).
Later that afternoon, I received an email from the driving school stating that she was finally able to get through to the Vegvesen, but they would not schedule a driving exam for me. They said they now needed a report from the police stating that I did not have any criminal record that would prevent me from getting a driver's license. I explained that I had just obtained a criminal clearance report from the police when I obtained my part-time job three months earlier. I was told that they wanted a recent report. I remember thinking, I could have ordered this report while I was waiting for the letter. If I'd known about this requirement, I would have.
After waiting two more weeks, the police report arrived. Now, the driving school was allowed to try to schedule a driving test.
Apparently, driving tests are either very, very popular and everybody wants to do them, or there are relatively few driving examiners available compared to the demand. Or both. The end result is that there is about a 60-day waiting period for available test openings. My driving test was finally scheduled for the earliest appointment available: March 23. It didn't take me too long to figure out that this presented a potential problem: there was a 13-day gap between the expiration of my temporary driver's license permit and the date of the driving examination.
I returned to the Vegvesen and explained my problem. The same clerk was there. No, the temporary license could not be extended. No, it was not their fault that 1) it took a month for them to send me 'The Letter' (it was somehow my fault that there were intervening breaks during Christmas and New Years), 2) they did not tell me about the required police report (which I could have ordered earlier, if I had known), and 3) they did not appear to have enough driving examiners to be able to schedule driving tests in a timely fashion. The clerk kept repeating that I should have begun this process within three months of my arrival in Norway (implying that this would have solved all these time-consuming problems).
I resigned myself to waiting. I also started looking up bus routes and schedules to see if it was possible to get to work and back for two weeks without a car. It’s almost40 km each way from my house to my work place.
I also learned that I was required to use one of the driving school's cars for my driving test; I could not use my own car. I was told that the reason for this is because the Vegvesen wanted to make sure I was using a good, functioning vehicle.
While I was waiting for the driving test appointment to come around, I scheduled a couple of hours of 'driving lessons' with the school for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure I was acquainted, and had some experience, with the car that I was going to use for the test. Second, I wanted to make sure I was aware of any special 'rules of the road' that I didn't already know. These lessons were very helpful (one of the most important things I learned was: It’s ‘yield-to-the-right,’ except when you’re in a roundabout – then it’s ‘yield-to-the left’).
Meanwhile, the office manager at the driving school said that - occasionally - an appointment may open up on short notice if someone cancelled, became ill, or died of old age while waiting for their driving test. I told them I would take any opening that might occur (even on very short notice), and I cleared such an eventuality with my employer.
After about five weeks, an opening came up and I asked them to grab it.
When I arrived for the examination, I found out that the car I was to use was not the one I had driven during my lessons. "My" car was being used by another person who was also taking the driving examination at the same time - a young man from Russia.
I did get a few minutes to acquaint myself with this new car, and then I went on my driving test. It took about 45 minutes, if I recall correctly. It was interesting that the examiner took me over some of the same roads and part of the same routes that my driving instructor had prepared me for (Thank You, driving school!). After it was all over, I found that I had passed. I paid my fees, had my picture taken, and my anxiety level decreased significantly. No busses required!
I found out that the young Russian man, however, did not pass his test. Apparently, one problem was that his previous driving experience was with an automatic transmission car, and he requested a test vehicle with a manual transmission (which he was having difficulty with). In Norway, if you take your driving examination with an automatic transmission car, you will only be allowed to drive cars with automatic transmissions. If you take your driving test with a manual transmission car, your license will be coded to allow you to drive cars with either an automatic transmission or a manual transmission, thus giving you more flexibility. This young man was in for more lessons, and another long wait for another driving test.
Anyway, after having my photo taken and paying three different fees, I was given a temporary license and told that the actual license would come shortly in the mail (it did!). Later, I received a bill from the driving school for the two driving lessons as well as for the use of their car during the driving examination. The total for everything (both the Vegvesen and driving school) came to just over $900 (have I mentioned that some things in Norway are expensive?).
But the bottom line is that I finally got the driver’s license (with almost two weeks to spare), and I put away the bus schedules. I also secretly wished that I had arrived in Norway from Switzerland or Japan, instead of from the U.S.…
Crosswalks Posted June 29, 2013
As I was working on getting my Norwegian driver’s license, I observed something that I thought was quite interesting: Cars stop for pedestrians in Norway! Imagine that! This may not seem remarkable to many others, but – where I come from – that is not the usual case.
In theU.S.(at least in the states where I have lived), crosswalks seem to be merely an option – or perhaps just a ‘suggestion’ – for pedestrians to use while crossing streets. You look for traffic, and when it is clear, you hurry across. This ‘rule’ appears to apply equally if you are at a marked crosswalk, or crossing in the middle of the block. Once you start crossing a street, drivers may or may not slow down and/or stop; it’s a gamble.
On a vacation to Russia once, I recall that their drivers are very fast, and crossing streets is especially challenging (to put it mildly). Usually, I would wait until there was a long break in the traffic before I dared venture out onto the pavement. One day, I was walking across a wide boulevard in St. Petersburg with an acquaintance. When we stepped out onto the street, there were no cars in sight. I felt safe. Suddenly, a single car approached from a distance, seemingly headed directly toward us. Hearing the high-RPMs of its racing engine, I started walking faster in order to get out of its way. My friend would have nothing to do with that – he maintained his leisurely pace. The car soon whizzed past. After reaching the sidewalk on the other side, I asked my friend why he didn’t hurry when the car was approaching. He explained, “It was a new car. No driver is going to risk damaging their new car by hitting us. We were safe.” I wondered what would have happened had the driver been in an old, beat-up car…
In Norway, I’ve noticed that drivers WILL stop if you are starting to cross at the crosswalk, if you are just standing at the crosswalk, or if you are approaching the crosswalk. There is none of this ‘I’ll wait for a break in the traffic’ thing that we sometimes do in the U.S. – the cars in Norway will stop.
When I was with my driving instructor, she told me that she was once driving with a student on the city streets. As they were driving, four young men were jogging together on the sidewalk, headed in the same direction. She said that – suddenly and without warning – the joggers immediately turned at a crosswalk and ran directly in front of their car. The instructor said that she had to hit the brakes hard in order to avoid running into the joggers. Even though these joggers made no indication that they were going to cross the street (they did not slow down and they did not even glance at the traffic when they turned), the instructor said that there would have been dire consequences if they had hit one or more of the joggers: she would have lost her license as a driving instructor, and the student driver would not have been able to qualify for her driving license.
So, when you’re driving in Norway, you need to carefully watch pedestrians or bicyclists near crosswalks. It’s a given that you need to stop if it is clear that they are at or approaching the crosswalk. But you must also watch for other body language: Is she turning her head slightly towards the crosswalk? Is that bicyclist leaning just a little as he approaches the crosswalk? And remember, also, that sometimes you need to be a mind-reader: Is that person walking along the street, or are those joggers even thinking about crossing the street?
Maybe the best thing for me to do is be especially cautious when driving, and assume that people near crosswalks are planning on crossing the street, unless they prove to me otherwise.
Gasoline Posted August 9, 2013
Norway has control of many oil and gas-producing wells in the North Sea. While statistics may vary somewhat from source to source, Norway is reported to be the largest oil exporter in Western Europe (14th largest in the world), and the second largest exporter of natural gas in Europe (after Russia). Norway derives much financial benefit from its energy production industry.
Even with this background – when I go to the gas station to fill up my car each week – I am presented with two sources of stress and anxiety.
The first stressor, as I pull up to the pump, is the price of the gasoline. Gasoline is sold and priced in the U.S.in gallons, but here it is sold by the liter. Currently, the price of gasoline in the area where I live fluctuates throughout the week, from a little below to a little above 15 Norwegian kroner (NOK) per liter.
With the help of Google and a calculator, I did some math: One US gallon equals about 3.79 liters; at an average price of 15 NOK per liter, this comes to 56.85 NOK per gallon; at an approximate exchange rate of 1 USD = 5.9 NOK, this comes to an equivalent price of $ 9.64 per gallon of gasoline. This compares to an average price range of $ 3.50 to $4.00 per gallon right now in the U.S.
In both the U.S.and Norway, heavy taxes are placed on the sale of gasoline. Besides this, however, there may be other reasons for the price differential. One reason may be limited oil refinery capacity in Norway (I understand that there are only two refineries in this country); so that anything extra would need to be imported. Also, the gasoline sold here is generally of a higher octane than the average sold in the U.S. When I lived in Idaho, I had the choice of 87, 89, and 91 octane gasoline (as measured by the Anti-Knock Index – AKI). InNorway, I fill up with 95 octane unleaded gasoline (as measured by the Research Octane Number – RON). As I understand it, the 95 RON octane gasoline in Norway is equivalent to the 91 AKI octane gasoline in the U.S. (the most expensive there). The higher the octane, the more it costs to refine.
Even though working wages are generally much higher in Norway than in the U.S., I still get somewhat stressed by the “sticker shock” of the price of the gasoline whenever I fill up my car’s fuel tank.
The second stressor that I experience whenever I drive up to the pumps at a self-service gas station in Norway is caused by the color of the gas pump handles. Really. The anxiety I experience when I see the gas pump handles is due to many years – decades, really – of classical conditioning (like Pavlov’s dogs).
In both Norway and the U.S., there are usually two hoses on each pump: one with a black handle and one with a green handle. For nearly 50 years, I have always known and understood that the hose with the green handle is for diesel fuel, not gasoline. And I’ve also known that it is very bad – disastrous, in fact – if you try to run your car’s gasoline-powered engine with diesel fuel. Therefore, a person must always be careful to never mix up these two fuels.
In Norway, however, the green handle means that that hose is for gasoline, and the black-handled hose is for diesel fuel; the opposite of what I’ve been used to.
So, whenever I pull up to the gas station here, I have to fight against decades of conditioning, and actually force myself to reach for the green-handled hose – the one that says “Blyfri” (Unleaded). I double- and triple-check to make sure that this hose is really the right one, and that it will pump gasoline into my car – not diesel fuel.
After I have been living in Norway for several years, I may eventually get used to this change, and perhaps even come to immediately accept the green-handled hose as the right one. But then – whenever I visit the U.S. – I’ll probably have to fight my instincts again to make sure I don’t start using the wrong hose there…
Getting Lost Posted October 26, 2013
I grew up and learned how to drive in a large city that was laid out in straight, north/south and east/west streets – that were also numbered (although many of them had street names, as well). Of course, there were a few roads there that meandered around a bit and didn’t strictly conform to this grid system, but they were very few. If you gave me the numbered address of any place in that city, I would be able to find it quickly and without difficulty.
I don’t live in a city anymore. I now live in the mountains.
That means there is no grid system where I live, and there aren’t any straight roads here. For me, this occasionally presents problems, because I am ‘directionally challenged’ to a frustrating degree. Oh, I’m OK if I have to get somewhere that is actually on the road I’m travelling on (and the place is clearly visible from the road), but if I have to turn off one meandering road and connect to another winding road (or more), I’m quickly lost. If I could, I’d lay down bread crumbs or some other items that I could use as markers to follow in order to help me find my way back again to my starting point.
A few weeks ago, one of my cousins (from the eastern part of Norway) came for a short visit. I told him that I would pick him up at the train station in a nearby town. I’ve only been to this town once before, but I thought, “What could be the problem? All I have to do is follow the road that passes by my house.”
When I go to work each day, I follow this road to the nearby town, where I connect with one of the main roads that takes me to my workplace (see my “Good Luck Road” posting above). To get to this other town to pick up my cousin, however, I turn in the opposite direction from my house, and I follow this road for about 25 km over the mountains. This part of the road soon turns into gravel and has many sharp turns and switchbacks – it’s a true adventure. But it also quite scenic and a beautiful drive – I wanted my cousin to see some of the local scenery.
I made it to the town alright, without any problems. I was proud of myself. However, as I entered the city, I tried to make a mental note of the way I came in, so I could retrace my movements to return to this mountain road. As I said, I had been to this particular town once before, but when I went home that time, I took a different way back. So, this was my first time returning by the same way I came. That shouldn’t be a problem, and it probably isn’t a problem for normal people. As I entered the town, I remember merging with another road on my left. I thought, “I’ve got to remember this fork in the road, and when I return, I have to keep to the left.”
I met my cousin when he alighted from the train, and we went to lunch at a café in the town. Everything was fine.
Upon leaving the town, I came to what I thought was the same fork in the road that I came in on, and I dutifully took the road to the left.
After travelling a short way, this street turned into a gravel road. “OK, this seems right,” I thought, and I kept on going.
While we were travelling, my cousin and I were talking about many different things and enjoying the scenery. After a while, however, I began to question whether of not I was on the correct path – things didn’t look familiar. There were no signs telling me where this road was taking us, but that’s not unusual for many mountain roads here. We kept talking.
After about 28 km, though, I finally decided that I had made a mistake – we should have made it to my house by now, or at least I should recognize something, but this was all new to me. Nevertheless, I stayed on this mountain path, thinking that it’ll eventually connect to a main road somewhere, from which I can make it back to my local town, and thus to my house.
About eight kilometers later, this road just ended in a circular turn-around. I was forced to go back the same way I had come. Embarrassing.
The trip back was notable, however, because at one point a moose jumped out from the trees and started running down the road in front of us. I held back a ways from it – so as to not spook it – and we watched it run. Those animals are big! After about 250 to 300 meters or so, the moose just stopped, turned toward the side, and jumped off the road and back into the thick forest.
When we finally got back to the fork in the road again (just outside the town where we had been), I looked carefully and saw that there was, indeed, a small sign signaling the correct road – the one to the right. Whatever road that I had merged with when I initially entered this town, this was not it. I then turned onto the correct road, and we made it back home – albeit a little late. But at least we did get to see and enjoy a lot of the scenery and a bit of the wildlife of this area.
I think I need to get a GPS system (or carry lots of bread crumbs)…
Trying to Save Money Sometimes Costs More Posted December 6, 2013
This experience is related to my previous post (about trying to save money in an environment where most things are expensive). I recently discovered that – in my attempt to save money – it sometimes ends up costing more in the long run.
There is a vehicle inspection program here in Norway that is tied to European Union standards: automobiles and trucks must be inspected every two years to determine their road worthiness and safety. If any repairs are needed, they must be completed within a limited time frame. I’m acquainted with this process; when I lived in various places in the U.S., one state had this inspection system completed annually, and one state did not have vehicle inspections at all (Idaho).
After living in Norway for about 18 months, I discovered that the old, used car that I obtained on my arrival here was due for its inspection. No problems, I thought. I knew that my old car would probably need some repairs, due to its age (it’s a 1996 model). My brother helped me out by taking my car to an approved auto repair and vehicle inspection company while I was at work one day. By the end of that day, I had a list of repairs that were needed, and the repair estimate: 13,000 Norwegian kroner (NOK). To me, that seemed like a lot of money, because that’s the same amount I had paid for the car when I originally bought it. But, I thought that this was basically a sound car, and I was sure I couldn’t find a better car at that price, so I decided to go ahead with the listed repairs on this one.
With the original estimate in hand, I searched out other options – I figured that I’d get some competitive bids. One was another automobile mechanic company which gave an estimate of at least 11,500 NOK (with an option to increase the price if they found something else wrong). I also contacted a small, one-man garage (that had formerly been a gasoline station) that was closer to my home. The owner there does tire work (selling and installing), and light mechanical work. In fact, I had an oil change done there several weeks previously. I showed the repair list to this man, and asked if he could do the work. He told me that he couldn’t do it, but that there was a mechanic who worked with him who could. I was told he’d get a price and get back to me. The following day, I received an estimate of 6,800 NOK from this third source - all parts, labor, and taxes included.
Given these three price quotes, I chose the third option with the very low bid: the one-man shop with the mechanic on the side. I delivered my car and went home in a rental car from this garage (at 300 NOK/day) to await the results. The repairs took a day longer than expected, due to finding that one of the front wheel bearings also needed to be replaced. That added 700 NOK to the price. That’s when I also found out that the mechanic had a different daytime job, and only worked on cars in the evenings – at his home.
After a couple of days, I retrieved my car and everything seemed to be fine. I then took it back to the original auto repair company to check that the repairs had been satisfactorily completed so an approved inspection report could be sent to the vehicle registration and licensing department. They found that the listed repairs were done, but they also noticed that one front wheel was loose – it had some ‘play’ in it (this was the wheel that had the new wheel bearing installed). They advised me to get that fixed. I returned to the local one-man shop that had done the work, and asked about the loose bearing. The owner told me that the wheel bearing was not supposed to be very tight, and that a small amount of looseness was expected and proper. He sent me on my way, telling me to not worry about anything.
A couple of weeks later, I took my car to a third automobile service company to have its winter tires mounted. In the process, this company also noticed that one wheel was too loose and needed to be repaired – and soon. With two different shops telling me that the wheel bearing was not installed correctly, and one man telling me it was OK, I went with the majority opinion and replaced that wheel bearing again (correctly, this time). Add the cost of another bearing, with labor.
The one-man garage that used the part-time mechanic did not stand behind or guarantee their repair. If I had the work done by one of the “regular” auto repair shops, they would’ve stood behind their repair and corrected any mistakes made. I’m not saying that this will happen in all such cases, but it did in this one.
Lessons Learned (and these are lessons for anyone in any country, not just in Norway): First, just because an initial bid for work comes in at a low price, that doesn’t mean that it’s a bargain. There are other factors to keep in mind when having work done (such as the reputation of the company). Second, if a work bid comes in at a price that is much lower than other competitors, be very careful.
Night Driving and Burned Retina Posted October 5, 2014
At this time of year, the daylight hours are shortening and the darkness of the coming winter nights are getting longer. One sees these changes occurring daily, as it becomes noticably darker at the same time each morning as I drive to work.
With the approaching extension of nighttime driving in Norway comes one phenomenon that I have found to be rather bothersome – that of burning retina.
A practice that I adopted when I first learned to drive was the use of high- and low-beam headlights during nighttime driving. When it is very dark, I normally drive with my headlights at high-beam. This is good because it helps me to see farther in front of me as well as to have a better view of the sides of the road.
Whenever another car approaches my car (traveling in the opposite direction), I dim my headlights to low-beam as we come closer to each other. The other driver does the same. I then return my headlights to high-beam just when the approaching car is passing my car (that is, when the cars are side-by-side). I have been taught that this practice is both a safety issue and a courtesy to the other driver. The safety is that this does not blind the opposing driver, and the courtesy is that this does not burn the other driver’s retina. This practice has served me well for many decades.
During the past two winters that I have driven in Norway, however, I have noticed that this practice is not universally followed by other drivers on Norway’s roads. Often – too often, as a matter of fact – I have found that the opposing driver returns to high-beam just before meeting my car (usually when his/her headlights are 10 to 20 feet in front of my car). The natural result of this is a temporary blinding and what feels like burned retina (an exaggeration, of course, but it does feel painful).
This event has occurred much more often than the amount one would expect from the occasional discourteous driver. I turned to the driving instruction book that I purchased on my arrival here to find out what the rules were (How to Get Your Driver’s Licence, published by the Norwegian Driving Schools Association). I was amazed to find that this book actually advises drivers to “change to main beam about two car lengths before meeting” (the illustration shown below is from the driver's manual, and indicates how far apart the two vehicles should be when they both turn on their high-beams).
So, the other drivers on the roads who are blinding me when we meet aren’t being discourteous, they’re actually following the instructions they were given when they studied for their driver’s licenses!
I’ve tried to find out why drivers would be advised to do this. The driver’s manual states that – as the car approaches – you are supposed to “keep looking along the right hand edge of the road” (presumably so that the lights of the oncoming car don’t blind you, even when it goes to high-beam right in front of you). Also, I’ve been told by others that research has shown that this practice helps you to see better as you pass the oncoming car (I don’t think this does much good for the driver of the other car, however).
In any event, my driving practices have been engrained to such a degree that I simply cannot turn on my high-beams in front of an oncoming car (as the driving manual advises). I have a deep aversion to burning other people’s retina. I suppose this will make me a 'bad' driver in Norway…
My Old Car Posted December 13, 2014
When I first came to Norway, I had an opportunity to purchase an older car that my brother found for me here. It was old – 15 years old, but it had relatively very low mileage on the odometer (only about 87,000 km), and my brother was able to get it at a very good price. I knew I couldn’t afford a new (or even a nearly-new) car here in Norway – the taxes on new cars are very steep. So, when this car was offered to me, I bought it right away.
This old car has been good, and it has gotten me where I needed to go. However, it has needed maintenance, upkeep, and repairs (which I should have expected from a car this old – even with low mileage). Many of these necessary repairs appear to be related to rust damage to the undercarriage. I have been told that this is a major problem in Norway due to the amount of moisture that falls in this area as well as the chemicals used in the winter to de-ice most of the roads here. All in all (over the past 2 ½ years) I have probably paid, in repairs, nearly three times more than what I had paid for the car in the first place. Still, it keeps me going.
One of the interesting things about having an older car is that I am occasionally surprised at what might happen next with it. Most of the time, it starts and runs well. But every once in a while, something goes wrong, or is not quite right. I see these events as little “gifts” or small “surprises” my car gives me.
A few weeks ago, for example, I started my car to let it warm up a little before I drove to work. As I exited the car, I noticed that the left taillight was not on. I immediately thought that I needed to get that bulb replaced. But, before I went into my house to get the rest of the things I take to work, I thought I’d try something.
Over the years, I have learned that there are three things a person can use to fix a piece of equipment or machinery that isn’t operating correctly. These three things will successfully repair almost any malfunctioning item approximately 90% of the time: duct tape, WD40, or give it a good smack! If these three things won’t fix what’s wrong, then it’s time to call a repairman.
I believe I originally learned about the efficacy of “a good smack” from the time when my father brought home our first black-and-white television set (shortly after they became commercially available). Every once in a while, when the picture went haywire and/or the sound turned to static, a good smack on the side generally put everything back in order. As a young child, I was impressed with this technique. I have subsequently used this repair method – many times successfully – on my own older television sets, tube-type radios, and assorted vending machines over the years.
So, when I encountered the dark taillight that morning, I decided to attempt my own repair. I knew that duct tape was no good in this situation, and I couldn’t see how WD40 would help. So I decided to try the third option: I gave the taillight lens a good smack.
It worked! The bulb came on! Science succeeds again! Over the next few days, the taillight functioned well.
Sometime later – again in the morning – I saw that the right front parking light also failed to turn on. I quickly applied my sure-fire repair procedure (I slapped the light lens), and it came on, as well! Over the following weeks, one or both of these lights would occasionally fail (perhaps once every four or five days), and my repair method always brought them back to life. The other night, however, I noticed that one of the panel lamps inside the car was not on; this was the lamp that illuminates the heater controls. Again, my first inclination was to smack the dashboard near the controls – which I did – and that lamp turned on, too!
So now, if you see me sometime, somewhere, repeatedly slapping and smacking my car, please don’t think I’m angry at my vehicle (unless, of course, you hear me saying, “Bad car! Bad, bad car!” when I’m hitting it). I’m really just trying to get it all to function correctly before I get in and start driving.
My Luck Ran Out Posted December 26, 2015
After three years of successfully navigating the “Good Luck Road” my luck ran out.
I was driving home on one of the narrower stretches (but not the narrowest part) of the Good Luck Road when I encountered a large, wide, dump truck approaching. Just as I have done hundreds of times before, I slowed down and pulled over to the right as far as I could. The truck also pulled over to its right, and continued coming towards me. So far, so good. 
However, as the truck started passing me, I saw that its right side tires were off the pavement and were now rolling up on the soil and rocks of the hillside itself. This was causing the truck to tip slightly to its left (and towards me). I was concerned that this truck would not be able to pass me successfully without at least taking off my outside mirror (or dumping part of its load on me).
I thought that I could squeeze a couple of more inches off of my side of the road, so I turned a bit more to the right (as I proceeded so very slowly). I was wrong. I cringed at the sound as a two-foot scratch was left on my passenger door when it met the guardrail (that was protecting my car from falling down the hill and into the rushing river below).
I don’t know if these two additional inches were absolutely necessary for the successful completion of this maneuver, but the truck was able to pass on my left without doing any damage to my car (on that side), and it went merrily on its way.
As the saying goes, “We’re never too old to learn” (although I wish that I didn’t have to learn some of life’s lessons over and over again). I’ve got to learn to trust my initial instinct that I was as far to the right as I could safely be, and – if that wasn’t far enough – then one of us would need to stop and back up until the other driver (or I) would be able to pull off into one of the wider spaces that are strategically placed on this road, thus allowing for safe passage.
I think I need to rename this road…
Parking Posted June 22, 2016
Ususally, the topic of parking one's car would not be anything special to talk about (or even to write about), but I wanted to share this tidbit that seems to be a part of Norwegian culture.
In those places where I've lived in the U.S., most people just pull into parking spaces at the store or business they're visiting, or they drive their cars home and park them in their garages or carports (or in their driveways). When it's time to leave, they will get into their cars again and back out of their parking spaces, or back out from their carports and garages. Then they will put their car into a forward gear and be on their way.
Not so here.
In Norway, I've noticed that a lot of people (a large majority, in fact) will back their cars into those parking spaces or into their garages and carports, rather than driving forward into them. This means that the next time they use their car, it will already be pointed in the direction that they want to go - no need to put the car in reverse to back out.
I can see why people might want to do this in their place of employment - it makes for a faster get-away. When it's time to leave work and engage in a more enjoyable activity, let nothing stand in your way (not even the few seconds it takes to back your car out of a parking space).
But I also see this practice in all places where cars are parked, including garages, driveways, grocery stores, etc., where a rapid exit is not necessary - most of the cars will be pointed outwards, ready to go.
Apparently, many Norwegians like to park this way.
As a result of this practice, I've seen that Norwegians have excellent control and ability when driving in reverse. They readily handle backing into spaces that have very little clearance, and they do so with great expertise. I, on the other hand, tend to drive in reverse very seldom (and only when I have to).
I'll need a lot more practice to be as efficient as Norwegians are in this skill.