Off the hook

( Landslide )

During the day, this road is one of the busiest in all of Sweden. The speed limit is almost certainly over 100 kilometres an hour. I imagine that the restaurant in the picture is open from before lunchtime to late at night, and has all sorts of people frequenting it.

When we're in Bohuslän, we often drive past a couple of kilometres west of this spot.


Edit: No one was severely hurt, as I understand it.

Our newspaper had this quick headline: Train Traffic back after Boat hit Bridge. I couldn't help thinking: "What luck the boat hit the bridge, then".

Today I got a survey. There are a couple of different ones that come at odd intervals: this particular one was about how media handled the suspected terrorist attack in Stockholm last week. Did I know about it? When did I learn about it? How did I learn about it?

What is my opinion of the reporting of the event in news media? Well, on the whole, it's been reasonable. I learnt what I think I needed to know: a stolen lorry drove through a large crowd of people on a business street in Stockholm. Four people, among them an eleven-year-old girl, died. There was some confusion to begin with, but that is to be expected.

What makes me a little uneasy is that the perspective feels off. Especially early on, the event was described as completely outstanding. It is so, but only if you compare it with "ordinary" violent crimes. When compared to actual acts of war or terror, there are far worse things going on.

I'm, actually not convinced -- yet -- that this should be considered an act of terrorism, but I suppose that's mostly a matter of definition. What I think is more important is that it's a crime, and it should be treated as such.

I also think it's worth pointing out, that this nasty act of whatever classification you prefer happened less than a week after another tragedy, a couple of hours from where I am. A school trip bus went off the road. Four kids died. The number of people in danger was certainly much higher in Stockholm, but I think that particular statistic was the same.

I don't often get the chance to watch Norwegian television.

Needless to say, when SVT decides to show uncommented news from Norway for a whole hour, it's because of a bomb in the centre of Oslo, followed by shooting at a political camp. That's what you need to raise the interest of Swedish media. I bet even Sundsvalls Tidning (which we read) will have a couple of articles about it tomorrow. Articles that will say little, because at this point, there is little to say. There will be more to say later, but also less interest.