After a spike in boat-related casualties earlier this summer, we can only hope that people start taking lifejackets as seriously as a police officer in Norway does.
According to reports, Norwegian police officer Arne Stavnes fined himself for failing to wear one.
When Starnes was pictured bare-chested at the helm of his police boat in one of Norway’s most popular online publications, people noticed. The officer was patrolling around Utoya Island, about 38 kilometres from Oslo, and as readers quickly pointed out, he was breaking the law. In Norway, wearing a lifejacket is compulsory on vessels less than eight metres long.
Starnes was quick to address the criticism, acknowledging his mistake on Facebook.
“Today there was a picture of me in [Verdens Gang], and yes, I forgot to put on my lifejacket, and put it on before my colleague noticed it. So I just have to apologize to the citizens of this great country, and especially to a few dedicated community members in the comments to VG,” he wrote.
But he didn’t stop there. In an effort to right his wrong, Starnes did what he would have done for anyone else—he wrote up and issued himself a fine for 500 Norwegian kroner (approximately $75 CAD). To prove it, he published a photo of his fine to his Facebook page as well as VG, where he was pictured without a lifejacket.
