Have Denmark’s new reckless driving laws reduced traffic offences?

The number of police charges for severe reckless driving, vanvidskørsel in Danish, has dropped significantly since new rules came into force in 2021, according to National Police (Rigspolitiet) figures reported by newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Last year saw 876 charges for reckless driving compared to 1,299 in 2022, a decrease of nearly a third. 2022 was the first full year under the new legislation.

Stricter traffic laws came into effect in March 2021 covering aggravated forms of reckless driving known as vanvidskørsel (literally ‘crazy driving’).

Under the revised legislation, reckless drivers face tougher penalties for traffic offences which are found to have caused involuntary manslaughter or bodily harm due to negligence, and for deliberately endangering others through reckless driving.

Motorists can also be charged under the aggravated reckless driving laws for driving more than 100 percent above the speed limit if the speed limit is more than 100 km/h, driving more than 200 km/h regardless of speed limit, driving with a blood alcohol content above 2.0, and for “particularly reckless driving.”

The rules for when police can confiscate a vehicle were also changed in 2021, allowing police to seize a car from a reckless driver even if the driver is not the owner, such as if the vehicle is borrowed or rented.

If agreed to by a judge, police can permanently confiscate and auction off the vehicle to the benefit of the Danish treasury.

READ ALSO: The driving offences that can cost you your licence in Denmark

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Several factors are involved in the lower number of reckless driving charges according to National Police spokesperson Christian Berthelsen.

“You get a strong punishment and there’s been a big decline in the number of charges. But many things play a role, including police controls and public awareness of the law,” Berthelsen told Jyllands-Posten.

The number of charges following accidents caused by reckless driving have also fallen in recent years, with 163 police charges of this type in 2024 compared to 217 in 2023, according to earlier reports from broadcaster DR.

As of October last year, the total number of charges under the law since it took effect in 2021 was 3,965, according to TV2.

Those figures showed that around 90 percent of charges had been pressed against men, and that over a quarter of all drivers charged were foreign nationals. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine were the highest-figuring nationalities, although Danes comprised the majority of charged motorists overall.