Stephen Gadd
September 28th, 2017

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Beware! The police in mid and west Jutland are watching you! (photo: pixnio/Amanda Mills, USCDCP)

Mid and west Jutland holds the dubious record for having the highest number of traffic accidents in Denmark. Most of these turn out to be caused by drivers not concentrating fully on driving. Mobile phones or other electronic devices can often be a distraction.

The region’s police authority is the first in Denmark to lay its hands on a new weapon to combat this, TV2 Nyheder reports. It has taken delivery of a special telescope that can spot errant motorists at long range.

It is especially in parts of the country where there are long stretches of road that the problem is most accute. Figures from the road safety organisation Rådet for sikker trafik show that from 2011-2015, 52 people were killed on the mid and west Jutland motorways because they became distracted. The total for the whole of Denmark for the same period was 283.

Police hope the new telescope will reduce the number of offending motorists. “I really think that getting our hands on some of these motorists – and to put it bluntly, catching them red-handed – could have a salutary effect,” said Henrik Glintborg, the leader of the traffic section of mid and west Jutland’s police force.

Light rail system in Aarhus to finally open end-October
If the Danish transport authority, Trafikstyrelsen, accepts the plan, the delay-plagued light rail system in Aarhus could open in five week’s time. The plan would allow the inner section to open at the end of October, DR Nyheder reports. However, the municipality will have to obtain all the relevant approvals from the authorities. At present, a dialogue is taking place between the management of the railway and the owners over system security. The railway was due to have opened on Saturday, but the opening ceremony was cancelled at the very last minute over security questions.

Metro in Copenhagen has capacity problems
Hundreds of passengers every day are left waiting on the platform on the stretch of Metro between Amagerbro and Nørreport because there is just not enough space on the trains. There is no immediate solution to the problem in sight, reports Ingeniøren. “At present, Nørreport is the station where most passengers are left behind and that’s why we’ve invested in more capacity by building the City Ring,” said Jesper Overgaard, the head of the Metro’s analysis and passenger economy department. “When this opens in 2019, the situation at Nørreport will be alleviated.” Meanwhile, passengers will just have to get used to the situation that may in fact get worse according to the Metro company’s own estimates.

Ryanair passengers woes continue
Up until now, around 400,000 people in Europe have been hit by cancelled flights on the cut-price airline Ryanair, reports DR Nyheder. Earlier in the month, the airline announced the cancellation of over 2,000 flights in September and October. This will now continue into the winter period, with 25 fewer aircraft available in November and 10 fewer from April 2018. At least 10,000 Danish passengers have so far been hit although Danish flights form a very small proportion of Ryanair’s total cancellations in Europe. The cancellations have been necessary because of problems with scheduling enough pilots.