• The rules for driving in western Norway
    27 replies, posted
A common misconception with Norway is that the roads are great, because the country is so rich. This couldn't be more wrong. Sadly, because there are like 14 people in the entire country, and the entire country consists of bumpy mountiainish things and vallys it'd be incredibly expensive and pointless to build great roads. There are good roads, like E18 and anything in Drammen and Oslo, but outside that... It's especially bad in western Norway. Driving in eastern Norway I often complain about the bumps everywhere, the holes in the road due to ice, bad driving conditions e.t.c. Then I drove in western Norway. I have never complained about eastern roads since. In western Norway there are some special rules for surviving what people refer to as 'roads' 1. Plan ahead. Far ahead. Roads here are thin as fuck. I mean most two way roads in western Norway can only fit half a car. And it's not like you can drive to the side because on one side there's a giant mountain in your way, and if you try to go out to the edge of the road on the other side, chances are you'll fall to a burning, exploding terrible death. So what you gotta do is, scout for cars as far ahead as you can - many kilometers ahead, and if you see a car - find a place to park ASAP. Some roads in western Norway have "pockets" in the side of the road made exactly for this. This way the cars can pass each other perhaps with as little as a broken side-view mirror. Here are two videos where you can see what I'm talking about: (they are a bit loudish so you can just mute 'em) [video=youtube;N4glfWBdCEk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4glfWBdCEk[/video] [video=youtube;md2puqW-X3E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md2puqW-X3E[/video] That's from trollstigen - although it is Norway's most notorious road, it's not the most dangerous. Driving on trollstigen, meeting two buses and having to back up around the corners went just fine for me. Sadly, since no Google Streetviewer and no man with a camera has dared to drive in the tunnel I drove in, I have no videos or pictures of what I'm about to tell you - there's a tunnel - the speed limit is 80 KPH which is about 50 MPH. The tunnel can fit about half a car - honestly I have no EARTHLY IDEA how the tourist busses and the trucks owned the factory near by get through there, it's so small we nicknamed it "the slinky" - because you could probably fit it in one. Either way, this tunnel had NO lights, so me - not knowing where the lightswitch was on the rental - I panicked. When I found it, I thought I'd be relieved, but what I saw was a tunnel with holes on each side. If I drove too much to one side I'd slide into a ditch INSIDE the tunnel. What's worse, it snaked around 90 degrees THREE TIMES! If I met a car in the pitch dark I'd be forced to back up WITH NO BACKLIGHTS, twisting and turning around with millimeter precision to avoid the ditches. Praise to Thor I did not! 2. Floor it - if you see NO cars in the distance, drive as FAST as you earthly dare - it may seem blisteringly insane, but trust me, it's better then meeting a car - chances are if you floor it you'll meet fewer cars. 3. If all else fails, panic. - if you're stuck you're boned. Or maybe not. I have no idea how the mountainmonkies who live there get out of sticky situations. Maybe they don't. Maybe there's a forever-sealed-off road in western Norway where millions of people have been stuck since the beginning of time. I do not know. Now, I went there in wonderful sunshine, but can you guys imagine - under harsh weather conditions - wind, thick ice - lots of snow and a snowstorm which removes visibillity - can you imagine that? Either way, I think I have a hunch why half the worlds most famous rallycross champions come from western Norway. One thing I thought was both spectacular, impressionable and terrifying was when I stopped the car a bit on Ørneveien in Geiranger, looked to my side, and down below I could see planes below me - what's worse, if I fell of the road I might hit a plane killing countless tourists. Wow. So, yes. Just wow. Now, that was the DANGEROUS roads, here are some average roads in western Norway - this is what's typical and what you find most places - they are survivable, especially if you've already survived the bad ones; [video=youtube;bd0iggttDz0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd0iggttDz0&NR=1[/video] And I'm sure someone might say 'They got it worse in Pakistan' or somethingorother, but I can say with confidence that Norway is the only AAA-credit-rated country with roads scarier then the grim reaper himself. Oh and one last note - the nature is spectacular. But if you look at it, your car will probably already be half way down the cliffside for a closer look. So don't.
Trying to drive anything bigger than a beetle on the roads in western Norway is fucking suicide. If you meet a big trailer or semi on the road from Ålesund-Åndalsnes, you might as well begin to pray. :v:
I'm trucking alot in Norway, but the worst roads I've encounterd in Western Norway is E134 over Haukeli and Riksveg 7 past Hardanger, driving these roads is almost more deadly during the summer than the winter due to all the caravans and mobilehomes from Germany (mostly).
Hahaha, shit. I haven't thought much about it but i was actually driving through a tunnel like that once. I was very young at the time, so i didn't understand why my father was sweating, swearing and shitting himself at the sight of an approaching tourist bus. It was in aurland by the way. Looks like this: [img]http://kundeweb.aggressive.no/users/dittferiested.no/galleri/large/Aurland%20-%20utsyn%20over%20fjorden%20fra%20fjellet.jpg[/img] Lots of nice rivers for fly fishing there supposedly. I live in Oslo, where everyone is constantly complaining about the quality of the roads (true, they are alot shittier than german roads for example). None however, have felt true fear until they have driven the aurlands-pass.
Every Norwegian who has been in western Norway has a story like those above, because - well there's not one, two or three deadly dangerous roads, but a bajillion of them.
Ah Norway. You and your beautiful landscapes and high mountains. [editline]6th August 2011[/editline] I like how Norway is like a barrier for incoming tsunamis to Scandinavia.
Well, sometimes, or rarely you will find a straight road in Northen Norway, don't speed for gods sake! Even if it seems to be clear of cars, kids or animals. Chances are that you suddenly find yourself a steep corner right behind a big bush are way too big, you'll have better chance to live if you slow the fuck down. Or you'll tumble down a rocky hillside for a couple of hundreds of metres to certain death. Prepare yourself.
Now I know which vessel to use for driving trough western Norway: A Motorcycle
Why not just build regular roads? Comeon you got enough money to get those roads fixed up, Just do it.
Oh shit, i'm moving north next year. And my buddy is bringing a car. Should i be worried? [editline]6th August 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=papu2;31574565]Why not just build regular roads? Comeon you got enough money to get those roads fixed up, Just do it.[/QUOTE] It's not worth it, the mountainous areas are extremely scarcely populated. We prefer sending money to third world countries, investing and blowing a couple of billion kroners on silly political programs.
[QUOTE=papu2;31574565]Why not just build regular roads? Comeon you got enough money to get those roads fixed up, Just do it.[/QUOTE] It's very cost inefficient. On average in Norway there are 14 people per square kilomiter, so spending millions on each individual isn't the greatest idea. That'd remove our state budget surplus completely. Imagine, it wouldn't cost millions, it'd reign in the billions.
-snip-
Norway, you're doing it wrong! [img]http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/emoticons/emot-norway.gif[/img]
And to think I always assumed driving in Norway was like a modern viking tournament, with people leaning out of their cars and destroying things with large axes, and vehicles running on mead.
[QUOTE=cat man;31575920]And to think I always assumed driving in Norway was like a modern viking tournament, with people leaning out of their cars with large axes and vehicles running on mead.[/QUOTE] Who said it wasn't like that? I often hear the screams of vikings as they cruise their Harley Davidsons hunting for villages to pillage and people to rape.
I live in Western-Norway, and I do sometimes think "What if a car comes in the opposite direction while we're speeding up a mountainside where only one car can fit" :v:
Pretty much the same in spain in a part where we have a house. Those pockets are there everywhere, because there's just enough room for one car. Evade a bunny and go a bit too much to the right and you're falling 20 meters down.
And I thought the Death Road in Bolivia was nuts. :v:
And I thought that roads in Russia are the worst ones... Yes, there're holes and shit everywhere, but jesus, they can fit TWO (!!) cars.
This is why we need flying cars right away! [img]http://i.imgur.com/olzI9.png[/img]
I'm from Western Norway, and I remember being scared shitless as a child when we drove six hours to visit our relatives in the eastern regions. I also recall my uncle's manic honking as he rounded corners. Great times.
I guess that's why you get three weeks of jail time for drunk driving over there :v: [editline]7th August 2011[/editline] Or so some sites said when I checked my facts, though the same sites said you automatically get a year of jail time in Finland for that and I know that's not true so v:v:v
Such is life in western Norway? Damn, drunk driving must be deadly there.
[QUOTE=ragin cajun;31582713]Such is life in western Norway? Damn, drunk driving must be deadly there.[/QUOTE] Because it is safe to be drunk driving everywhere else.
Actually, in most cases, driving very drunk is safer here as the random turning you'll do will almost certainly match the random turns in the quirky roads.
That's odd - says my OP was posted in USA, while I'm faaaaairly certain I posted it from this chair... which is right here... in Norway...
[QUOTE=mac338;31595745]That's odd - says my OP was posted in USA, while I'm faaaaairly certain I posted it from this chair... which is right here... in Norway...[/QUOTE] [img]http://ssbraccia.myncblogs.com/files/2008/05/grey-alien3.png[/img]
Glad my city road don't have any holes. Yes, none of the roads in my city that are concrete, have holes.
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