Sören Eklöf has been a professional driver for almost 40 years. In recent years, he has seen a marked deterioration in how the Swedish Transport Administration handles road maintenance. Now it has gone so far that he has chosen to make a JO notification. He urges the Swedish Transport Administration to rethink and make changes. – Road maintenance is so terrible now and it is not meant that we professional drivers should have to worry about driving. If we are going to get home, if we are going to crash or if someone is going to crash with us, he tells TV4 Nyheterna. “What if a school bus comes?” He says that he goes to bed with worry and discomfort in his body when he knows there will be snow and storms. However, the biggest concern is not for his own safety, but for other, more vulnerable, road users out on the roads. – I have insurance and I have a new car. I always wear a seat belt. So I can manage. But the school bus? The family on their way home after New Year’s celebrations? I don’t want that on my conscience. Does the Swedish Transport Administration want it? The Swedish Transport Administration’s response – all vehicles are out The Swedish Transport Administration agrees that they have major challenges in managing winter road maintenance in Sweden. Press manager Bengt Olsson says that in October they had a meeting with the haulage industry where it was discussed how to develop and improve the work going forward. At the same time, he points out that they are happy to receive opinions on continuing problem areas. According to Olsson, all available plow trucks and salt trucks have been out working on the roads for the past 24 hours. 570 vehicles were out and there are no more to use. – It is sad if the driver experiences discomfort. It shouldn’t have to be that way. To say at the same time that we can definitely have clear roads 24/7 with this rapidly changing type of weather that we have in Sweden nowadays. It is enough to slightly overestimate the conditions to make it happen, says Bengt Olsson.
t4-general