“You´ll never get my driver´s license”

They have passed 75, 80, 90 and 100 years.
With the driver’s license well placed in their back pockets they go out for a drive on Norwegian roads. Maybe, they have annoyed some of you on their way? But what do the elderly think of their own car and driving skills? And what have they experienced on the road. And are the myths about senior drivers true?

This is an ongoing project. To read about the persons in the pictures, scroll down.

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There are 2.929.927 cars in Norway.

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Picture 1
Ørnulf Ranger (98) and his girlfriend Connie Skoglund (86)

Ørnulf Ranger.
Born: 1914 in Christiania (Oslo).
Occupation: Retired construction engineer.
First car: Chevrolet 37-model. I bought it in 1939.
Learned backing: A friend who was a truck driver. It told me just to open the left door and lean out to see backwards. I did it on the driver test, was not a success. Never done it since.
Current car: Mercedes-Benz 180 CDI 2011 – model
Likes: Going to toy store and look at cars, boats and anything that spins.
Interests: Racing boats, hydroplane boat (have been norwegian champion twice).
Wants: To be healthy and fit and continue to drive until 100

Connie Skoglund (86)
Born: 1927
Has been Ørnulfs boyfriend for 20 years and is a retired consultant.
Got her license: 1950. Still driving
Likes: Holding Ørnulf, preferably all the time.

Connie: He wanted a Mercedes for years. And he told me that last year at the age of 97. Then I think you should go out right away to buy the car, I said. And he did.
Ørnulf: I’ve had 19 Opel cars, but always dreamed of a Mercedes. It was a great feeling to finally drive my own one. In traffic I use gentleman technique and help others while I get around myself. I am totally dependent of my car. If I didn’t have it my life would stop. We take a lot of long trips with the car. We drove a long way for some years ago for a reason: to find a dentist Gustav Nilsen. You know that I was supposed to repair his camera. He was a student, and my neighbor. He was moving to Sandnessjøen. He left his camera, I repaired it and posted it. But it was lost in the mail. It was a weight on my shoulders for years, that he might think that he, Ørnulf Ranger, walks around and uses the camera himself. So I thought that I would drive and find him and explain it all. We did not succeed, he must have moved. But the drive along the coast of Helgeland was fine.

117.838 male drivers above the age of 75 has a driver’s license in Norway

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Picture 2
Roald Kåreid (100).

Born: 4 February 1912, when there were only 425 cars in Norway.
Occupation: Retired general ledger and bank representative.
Got his license: 1970, my daughter who was 18 at that time took it together with me.
Current Car: Peugeot.
Number of kilometers driven in the last 6 years: about 20 000 km
Drives to: Grocery store every Friday.
Speed: Don’t like to pass 100 km/h.
Thinking of: If I should take the Hurtigruten vessel again, it will be the eighth time.

It’s quiet in the car when I’m out driving. Totally silent. I keep the window a bit down so I can hear the sirens coming behind me.
I drove down to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) last fall and asked if there were any special form for a renewal of my license. Yeah, I got a form and filled out everything, and I got my doctor to fill out the required categories. But when I came back in the winter, just before my 100 birthday there was a lot of activity behind the desk at the DMV. They had no rules for people who were over 100 years. They conferred and made telephone calls to the head quarter in Oslo. A lot of people gathered around me to listen. Even the local media came. But it was nice. I got the license renewed for five more years, and drove home.

In 1895 the first gasoline-powered car arrived to Norway. Newspapers described it to have “a pretty ordinary appearance. A carriage without a horse. “.

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Picture 3
Dorte Gursli (84).
Car: Citroën 94 model
Cars owned: 2 cars
Got the license: As a 50-year-old in 1978, was widowed 10 years later and I’m happy that I got the courage to get the license
Drives mostly to: Notodden, Lunde, Skien and Bø to visit family and friends
Annoying: slow drivers
Parallel parking: I know how to, but I try to avoid it
Will stop driving: When I fail to back into the garage
Driving license: Has the little green book, which was produced until 1979 (Green drivers license are still valid in Norway).

I really like driving to music. Wind Band. Brass music. Accordion. But I do not crank up the window like a Greaser. And I am probably not the one who drives the fastest either.
But once I drove very slowly, because I was not familiar with the roads in Drammen. People honked behind me and I thought: Yes, yes, I can’t drive any faster here, I don’t care! But I came through, with a tail of cars behind me. I promised my self it would be the last time driving to Drammen. But I’ve been driving here a lot of times now. My husband thought that I had no use for the driver’s license, because I could just get a ride with him. But all my girlfriends said: – Just take it! So I saved some money secretly, on my secret bank account. When I got the license, I called home to my husband and said: – I just got the license. And I need a ride back home.

There is 93.400 km of roads in Norway. Private roads and forest roads are not counted.

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Picture 4
Sigmund Pedersen (85) and Marit Pedersen (82).

First car: Willys MB Jeep.
Maximum speed: 60 miles (96 km / h).
Got their license: Sigmund in October 1945, his license was ready, just had to take a little drive round for sure. Marit drove up in the 60′s.
Occupations: Sigmund is a retired auto mechanic, Marit has been secretary and worked in a kindergarten.
Number of cars they’ve had: 14.
Fines: 2 speeding tickets.
Longest drive: Vacation in Blackburn, England, 1956.
Use of the horn: No, but we use something many have forgotten and it is the turn signal.

This jeep was dropped from an aircraft during the war. We bought it just before we got married in ’54 and it was our first car. The price tag was 2300 norwegian kroner (410USD). We had to borrow the money from my father and two uncles. And with a small tent in the back of the car and some friend, we set off on holiday. We found a fishing lake and a green field, and camped. We only had three air mattresses, and we were often four, so we had to lie across. Today we drive to the cottage. We don’t talk when we drive, we like to be aware of the traffic. Just a small mistake from our side and they will take the license away from us. The license means more than anything else for us.

3.136.962 norwegians have a driver’s license.

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Picture 5
Hans Nordgård (92) and Åshild Nordgård (86).

Hans Nordgård (92)
Occupation: Retired driving instructor
Price for license in 1949: 10.50 norwegian kroner per hours (1.90USD)
Good advice: If there is a wasp in the car, stop the car and let it out.
Got his license: In 1938, a 15-minute drive in Notodden, and no theory.
Driving trips we like: To Seljord, to look out for the “sjøormen” (norwegian Loch Ness monster)!

Åshild Nordgård (86)
Occupation: receptionist for her husband
Got her license: at the age of 41
Car: Toyota Rav4

Åshild: In the 60′s, when the car rationing was revoked, wifes were also allowed to get a license. So applications for the license piled up on my husbands desk.
Can you teach me to drive I asked my husband. Yes, he could, but the paying customers had to be given priority. Years went by, and time books were full. It was I who wrote the schedules, you see. Then one day there was a new student named Hans Knutsen in the books. When the first driving lesson had come, my husband was looking for the student without finding him. He’s here! I said and pointed at myself. And he could not do anything but teach me then. But you should have seen his face.

Hans: At my driving school, we had 35 cars, a bus and two motorcycles. Today we drive a Toyota Rav4 AWD, but if I could choose, it would be a 170 DS Mercedes. Cabriolet. If you got hold of one. Or a Opel Captain 37-38 model. Cabriolet. Preferably black. But most of all I would like a motorbike. It would be fine if Åshild would sit beside me. A Zundapp with sidecar.

95.120 female drivers above the age of 75 have a driver’s license.

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Picture 6
Thelma (85) og Georg (90) Midbrød
Living: Northern Eigerøy, Egersund
Car: A blue Mitsubishi Colt 2006
Dream car: BMW, they have really good seats.
Both got their license in: 1969
Occupations: Georg is a retired chairman of the Public Roads Administration and Thelma a retired nurse
Longest drive: To Benidrom in Spain
Do you like to drive fast? we do not dare tell you!

For 30 years we have been driving to the east of Norway. Our son lives over there, so we drive a couple of times every year. We enjoy these rides. We use a seven to eight hours maybe, from Egersund to Sarpsborg. It’s about 470 km.
We never listen to the radio. We usually chat. We have a lot of stops and take our time. People talk a lot about old drivers and how slow they are. But at least we pay attention to the traffic. But we often stop to switch places, and only drive for a short while each. Especially if it rains, then you get tired of sitting and watching these wipers blades. But if it is sunny and warm weather, the trip is even nicer. We bring our own lunch. It’s often sandwiches with a egg and herring, a thermos of coffee and some milk.
Our children would prefer if we didn’t drive that much.

60, 5 percent of car owners have a car that runs on petrol. 38.7 percent use diesel.

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Picture 7
Otto Kåre Funnemark (87).
Occupation: Retired truck driver and farmer.
Got his license: In 1950.
Back in the days: It was normal to honk before a curve all over the country.
Driving: Almost every day.
Car: Peugeot 406, but is ready to be replaced.
Pick up hitchhiker: Yes.
Number of cars over the years: 11 – and that’s just the trucks.
Weekend Trips: Often, when running up the West Telemark, out fishing and sailing.

I have been driving trucks all my life, and plowed snow from the roads here for 28 years. Twice during the night I had to get up and check if it had been snowing. For a long time I wanted to create a board outside the window, which would fall down and activate a bell if there was a lot of snow. When the bell started ringing in the bedroom I would wake up. But I did not make one. Now the cat wakes me. I still work. I help someone I know to drive loads of windows with a truck. I’m mostly sitting on the passenger seat now, just turning and parking the truck. But I drive a lot private. Too much! I’ll tell you that for me living here, where there are neither train, boat or bus, I would die if I didn’t have it.

A, A1, B, B1, BE, M, S, T. These are the driving license classes that have lifelong validity, until your 100th anniversary. After the age of 70 years you must also have a valid medical certificate.

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Picture 8
Liv Solveig Haavaag (94).
Car: Opel Model 95. I think It’s my ninth Opel in a row now.
Got her license: When I was 30 years.
Occupation: designer.
About renewal of driving license: Elderly drivers should be tested by a doctor and the DMV. But car tests should take place in our own car.
Own driving rules: Never surpass if the car in front keeps the speed limit.
Loves: The highway, were I can drive legally fast.

I’d rather drive myself, than to sit as a passenger with a nervous driver on my side. It’s good to be allowed to drive, it is something I really enjoy. For you see, in the last 20 years I have been part of a dance group that entertains at nursing homes. And these nursing homes are in places where it is no bus. So I’ve always a full car. Well yes, I have some speeding tickets, I must say. It is strange, when you are alone on the road with full view and the sun shines and I’m in such a good mood. Then it suddenly flashes in the camera! 4200 norwegian kroner (750UDS). But I do not feel sorry for myself. It’s my own fault! It’s a lesson, now you have to learn. Because I’m terrified of losing my license. The day they take the license, they can take me also. But my friends in the dance group keep an eye on me while I drive and they cry out constantly from the backseat: “Liv! Liv! You are over 60 km/h! ”

The number of petrol stations in Norway is 1750. 84 in Oslo and 37 in Finnmark.

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Picture 9
Ingebjørg Lundetræ Opedal (90).
Lives on an apple farm.
Car: Fiat Punto 2006.
Got her license In 1968 (tractor) and in 1971 (car). One of the first women who took tractor license in Hordaland.
Speed tickets: No, but I should certainly have had some.
Parking ticket: one in 1976.
Dream car: Peugeot 304, I had one like that for 22 years.
Favorite color on car: Red.
Stops driving: The day I become afraid of the winding, narrow roads here.

Licences were the stupidest thing my husband had heard about. He said he drove soon well that he refused to take it. So I was the one who had to take it in 1968. First a license for the tractor, and later on for the car. I love to sit in the car. One summer there were 17 at the table with us every day. It was such a relief to sit in the car and just drive away. Delightful. Sitting there all alone with silence. Now and then I still do it, I need some peace from time to time If it has been busy days. I sit in the car, take the fishing rod with me and drive along the fjord. Then I find a place and start fishing. One day I got a large fine cod. So I never went to the grocery shop and got the salted cod I was supposed to pick up that day.

The average car in Norway is 10,3 years old.

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Picture 10
The brothers Halldor Utne (84) and Torvald Utne (85).

Halldor Utne: Owns a gas station.
Drives: Golf
Gasoline prices in 1955: just about to pass 1 norwegian krone (about 0.17 USD) for the first time.
Got his license: In Bergen, 1946
Number of cars owned: 5
Dream car: Absolutely none, if it’s going forward is good enough.
Speeding ticket: No, I have learned after 40 years in the road.

Torvald Utne: Retired farmer
Drives: Volvo
Got his license: In Bergen, 1946
Number of cars owned: 7
Driving to: the grocery shop (2-3 km) and Odda (30 km)

Halldor: I sit in the car around seven o’clock every morning and drive to the gas station in Kinsarvik. It’s about eight kilometers. I open the gas station, put on some coffee, arrange the papers and make wiener sausages. Then everything is ready for the first shift to arrive and I can continue on with the financials. I’ve done it since 1972. Midday I drive home for dinner, but I’m back at work later on.

Torvald: Well I use the car to get my mail and to drive to the store. And sometimes to the village Odda. My eye vision has not changed for the last years. This was confirmed by an optician not long ago.

50% of all Norwegians owns a car.

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1500 NOK (260 USD) is the amount you have to pay if you drive without a seat belt.

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3835 km is the average distance a Norwegian car drives every year.

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Garry Kimovich Kasparov, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time, now writer and political activist, visited the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to celebrate his 50th birthday.

During his stay in Oslo he met the norwegian press and attended a breakfast meeting arranged by Civita at Café Christiania in Oslo.

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Kasparov became the youngest ever World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22. For 255 months he was the world No. 1 ranked player, nearly three times as long as his closest rival, Anatoly Karpov. March 2005 he announced his retirement to devote his time to politics and writing. He formed the United Civil Front movement, and joined as a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. He is widely regarded in the West as a symbol of opposition to Putin, nad he is currently on the board of directors for the Human Rights Foundation.

During his interview with Dagens Næringsliv he talked about the situation in Russia.

- President Putin is a skilled manipulator, which governs the country as a kind of Tony Soprano. It’s all about loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.
Today’s Russia violates all indicators of a democracy: equality before the law, free and fair elections. There are rules, but they change all the time.

But stated that he is an optimist by nature, and that things will eventually change.

- Our human intuition will tell us what we need to do to move on. There is a new generation of russians, and I trust that the young will do what must be done.

Read the whole interview in todays DN Lørdag.

Mystery woods of Bexell (Bexell´s talking stones)

Ernst Gustaf Detlof Alfred Bexell was a man well ahead of his time. He was born 22. november 1831 in Harplinge, Sweden. At the age of 18 he became a farmer and soon a rich landowner with 12.000 acres of farmland. At age 32 he was elected in Halland County Council and in 1884 as member of parliament.

In the 1880s he engaged engravers to inscribe on rocks and stones on his property, 20km east of Varberg; an early version of facebook.
The inscriptions were numerous sayings and a fascinating collection of names from personalities from past times – scientists, philosophers, authors, kings, presidents, politicians, brave warriors, adventures and heroes: Aristoteles, Ludwig van Beethoven, Benvenuto, Blenda, Simon Bolivar, Julius Caesar, Diogenes, Selma Lagerlöf, Carl von Linné, Napoleon Bonnapart, Isaac Newton, Robespierre, Svante Sture, Richard Wagner, Bacon, Dante, John Ericsson, Franklin, von Linné, Mirabeau, Nansen are some of them.
All sayings and names he liked or maybe disliked.

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Until now a total of 180 words of wisdom, 600 names, 100 stones and 4 rock walls have been found. To judge from Bexell’s account books, in which payments to the stonecutters are noted on the basis of how many letters they cut, there must be a huge amount of missing names and sayings in the woods.
When Alfred Bexell died, 3 may 1900 in Varberg, the stones were forgotten, and the inscriptions were soon covered with moss.

One summer day in 1925 they were rediscovered by a family wandering through the forest. They had lost their way, and sat down to eat. Suddenly the children discovered something strange on one of the rocks. Three letters: “ANT“. The children began to scrape away the moss, until they could read “In restrain of pleasure lies something elegant”
The inscriptions have been intriguing people ever since. Today the forest is a popular place for hikes and excursions.

Rather the lion’s wrath than the hyena’s friendship.

— Alfred Bexell

But like everyone else on facebook today, Bexell wrote his own thoughts and philosophy of life:

“A life without love is a year without summer”
“Do not say, “If I get time, I’ll learn.” Maybe you’ll never have time”
“What is sleep but a picture of death”
“Hope is the unfortunates daily bread”
“Only the ignorant are poor”
“Keep your reputation, for it will always be Your greatest wealth”
“A good conscience is better than two witnesses”
“Haste is worse than slowness”
“Women grant each other everything except toilets and men”
“Poor and rich hand of death makes equal”

Do not say all you know but always know what you say.

— Alfred Bexell

So why he hire masons to go around in the forest and chop names and words of wisdom?
Some say it’s because he wanted to help out the stone masons that were so alcoholic that
they lost their job.
Others say it’s more likely that Bexell was afraid that the Swedish language would disappear, and that he wanted to preserve it.

He wanted to tell us something, but no one knows quite why. Alfred Bexell message from the 1800s lives on the mossy stones. Probably the inscriptions spring from Bexell´s wish to transfer to future generations his philosophy of life as well as important culture and historic events. He wanted to be remembered. Not as a person, but for his opinions and values.

Short story made for DN (Norwegian daily newspaper). Filmed in one day.
Norway has always been a fishing nation and is one of the largest fishing nation in the world. A long coastline and many fjords, Norway provides good conditions for abundant harvest from the sea.
But times are changing and the number of fishermen currently has reached a historic low.
 10,235 people are fishing as their main occupation, while in 1950s there were over 68 000.
In the Oslo fjord there are only 16 vessels left. 6 of those are shrimp vessels. And there is only one girl, Helene (23).

If you want to see the picture story, follow the link. Press here to see the picture story – Shrimp fishermen of Oslo

For the fifth consecutive year it bad shrimp fishing in the North Sea. This affects fishermen in Norway and the incomes are low. Limited access makes the price for shrimp reach new heights. And and customers are less willing to open their wallets.
Prices for fresh shrimp in 2012 ranged from 199 NOK (36$) pr.liter in Stavanger, to 290 NOK (53$) pr. liter in Oslo.

In Bergen and Oslo the shrimp crisis was so precarious that shops had to buy fresh shrimp in Tromsø and fly them south. Institute of Marine Research confirms that prawn stocks in the North Sea has fallen sharply in recent years.
But this year’s stock surveys show a large quantity of one-year-old shrimps than the in the last three years. So it seems that the shrimp stock will increase in 2013/2014.

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There are some problems with internet explorer (IE). Not everybody are able to see the movie on top of the page with IE. Please use another browser (firefox, google chrome, opera or another). Or use the embedded version of the movie (above).

Norway has always been a fishing nation and is one of the largest fishing nation in the world. A long coastline and many fjords, Norway provides good conditions for abundant harvest from the sea.
But times are changing and the number of fishermen currently has reached a historic low.
 10,235 people are fishing as their main occupation, while in 1950s there were over 68 000.
In Oslo fjord there are only 16 vessels left. 6 of those are shrimp vessels.And there is only one girl, Helene (23).

If you want to see the video, follow the link. Press here to see the video – Shrimp fishermen of Oslo

For the fifth consecutive year it bad shrimp fishing in the North Sea. This affects fishermen in Norway and the incomes are low. Limited access makes the price for shrimp reach new heights. And and customers are less willing to open their wallets.
Prices for fresh shrimp in 2012 ranged from 199 NOK (36$) pr.liter in Stavanger, to 290 NOK (53$) pr. liter in Oslo.

In Bergen and Oslo the shrimp crisis was so precarious that shops had to buy fresh shrimp in Tromsø and fly them south. Institute of Marine Research confirms that prawn stocks in the North Sea has fallen sharply in recent years.
But this year’s stock surveys show a large quantity of one-year-old shrimps than the in the last three years. So it seems that the shrimp stock will increase in 2013/2014.

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More than 50% of all the Syrian fleeing to Lebanon are children.

It´s early morning in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, only a couple of kilometers from the Syrian border. Together with their family of twelve, Mahmoud (7) and Nasser (9) fled Damascus a couple of months ago.

It was a sniper. He was hidden on the rooftop across from our house. My friend felt of his bike, and the sniper shot again.

— Mahmoud (7)

His parents are listening to the story and fills in
- The second shot hit the kid in the back. We were several adults rushing in to save him. But it was too late. He´s paralytic now.

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It´s 19 months since the conflict in Syria started. Syria’s bloody civil war has already claimed nearly 30,000 lives. It has forced many of the country’s children to grow up too quickly. The civil war has forced more than 300,000 people to flee their country, and more than 50% of those who have registered in refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan are children. The numbers might be higher because some refugees are fearful of registering with authorities. They know Lebanon is largely split between groups that still support the Al Assad regime in Syria, including Hizbollah.

All of them have left their homes because of violence, or the threat of it, and now face an indefinite wait as the fighting drags on. And many of the children, like Mahmoud and Nasser, has not attended school for almost two years now.
Their parents pay 100$ a month to a local farmer for putting up a tent on their field. All together the landlord gets 2000$ a month for all the tents at the camp. 10 times more than the usual salary for a Lebanese farmer. Many face the same problem. Just a couple of kilometers from this camp another family is renting a room in an abandoned chicken farm. The price is 300$. Samira is only 17, but has already three children. The youngest 3 months old. She´s sitting on the floor together with her sisters smoking. Within two days she and her family has to pay the landlord. If not, they have to leave.

A cease-fire was supposed to take place at Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar. But it crumbled after only hours, in some areas it never took hold.

Today a senior Syrian air force general has been killed by rebels in central Damascus, state television reports. The attack appears to be the latest in a string of rebel attacks on high-level figures from President Bashar al-Assad’s administration. A total of 115 people had died in Syria today, among them seven children.

Andreas Thøgersen Nilsen is the fastest bike messenger in Norway. Every day he makes about 50 deliveries in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
At the age of 31 he earns a year salary working 3-4 days a week as a bike messenger, and the rest of the time he studies.

We followed him for a day.
He had a 8h 22m workday, bikes 84,2 kilometers, burned 5656 calories and had an average pulse rate of 124 (164 max pulse rate).
His breakfast: a bowl of cereals with milk and strawberry marmalade.
See his story and his incredible ride through the Norwegian capital, Oslo. Video in Norwegian only.

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In this part you can find the following reportage and tear sheets:
1. Espen Eckbo – published in Dagens Næringsliv
2. Arve Juritzen – published in Dagens Næringsliv
3. Bjarne Melgaard – published in Dagens Næringsliv
4. Robert Mood – published in Dagens Næringsliv
5. Herbjørg Wassmo – published in Dagens Næringsliv
6. Jørgen Lorentzen – published in Dagsavisen
7. Tarahumara – published in The New York Times

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In this part you can find the following reportage and tear sheets:
1. Next to the war, Gaza – published in Dagsavisen
2. Tunnels, Gaza – published in Dagsavisen
3. Maoist, Nepal – published in Dagsavisen
4. Soldiers, Norway – published in Dagsavisen

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In this part you can find the following reportage and tear sheets:
1. Run for life – published in Dagens Næringsliv
2. Haiti earthquake – published in Dagsavisen
3. Freegans – published in Dagsavisen
4. Homeless – published in A-magasinet

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