From Tuesday it will be prohibited to run a diesel car on rural roads in Oslo due to acute hazardous air pollution. As it looks now, the ban will last until Thursday.

Cold weather and little wind is expected on Monday and Tuesday and there is likely to be high exhaust pollution over large areas of the city on these days.

Therefore Oslo will for the first time issue a ban on driving with diesel on municipal roads from at 6am until 10pm from Tuesday.

A violation of diesel ban will be punishable by a fee of 1,500 kroner, and both the police and the Public Roads Administration have the authority to enforce this.

Parts of Ring 1

The driving ban will be valid until the city environmental committe considers the urgent need to no longer be present. The state has adopted similar resolutions for parts of Ring 1.

– Acute high air pollution means that it can be a health hazard for children, the elderly and asthmatics to move outdoors. Diesel Prohibition is a radical measure, however, it is necessary to preserve the health of city residents, says Gerd Robsahm Kjørven, Acting Director of the Environment Department in Oslo.

Unstable weather conditions

As the forecasts show now, from Wednesday afternoon or evening there will become more stirring in air masses and the inversion is expected to be broken up, according to Oslo kommune.

From Thursday unstable weather conditions are expected with stirring in air mass, and it will most likely no longer be a risk of high NO2 pollution.

– We follow the weather situation closely. When rescinded it will be notified via their websites, social media and the press release, said the municipality.

Some exceptions

The ban applies to diesel-powered vehicles, but some exceptions have been made. The exceptions include emergency vehicles, plug-in hybrid-diesel vehicles, vehicles used in public service, patient transport, transit and vehicles used for commercial purposes and to document driving needs.

The state roads Ring 3, E6, E18, Highway 4 Trondheimsveien, Highway 163 East Aker road, Highway 190 Strømsveien and parts of Ring 1 are not covered by the ban. Ring 1 will be split as to where the ban applies.

Transportation to and from Oslo central station, Vippetangen and Hjortneskaia will still be possible, said Oslo kommune.

According to Luftkvalitet.no air pollution in Oslo was high on Sunday afternoon. The same applied to Drammen, Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg.

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today