Norway's vital E18 highway was closed southbound near Tønsberg on Thursday following a serious multi-vehicle collision just north of the Gulli intersection. Emergency services rushed to the scene after the morning crash, with police confirming several vehicles were involved and the extent of injuries remained unclear. The immediate closure of the southbound lanes caused significant disruption along one of the country's most critical transport arteries.
“Several cars are involved and the extent of the damage is unclear,” police operations manager Roger Aaser said in a statement. Police, fire, and ambulance crews responded to the incident. Authorities established a full closure of the southbound carriageway, diverting traffic and warning motorists to expect long delays. The Accident Investigation Board Norway (Statens havarikommisjon for transport) was notified, standard procedure for serious traffic incidents.
A Critical Artery Paralyzed
The E18 is not just another road; it is the economic spine of Norway's southern coast. Running from the Swedish border near Oslo all the way to Kristiansand, it connects major population centers, industrial hubs, and ports. The closure near Gullikrysset, a major interchange serving Tønsberg and the wider Vestfold region, created an immediate choke point. Commuters heading south from Oslo towards towns like Sandefjord and Larvik faced gridlock. Freight traffic, essential for supply chains along the coast, was forced onto slower alternative routes.
Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, is a central municipality in Vestfold with a population exceeding 58,000. The E18 functions as its primary link to the national motorway network. “When the E18 stops, a large part of regional mobility and commerce stops with it,” said transport analyst Henrik Larsen, who studies Nordic infrastructure. “This stretch handles thousands of vehicles daily, including a high proportion of heavy goods vehicles. The ripple effects from an extended closure are substantial.”
The Persistent Challenge of Road Safety
This crash occurs against a backdrop of generally improving road safety in Norway. In 2022, the country recorded 117 road fatalities, continuing a long-term downward trend from over 200 deaths annually two decades ago. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) has implemented a Vision Zero policy, aiming to eliminate all serious road injuries and fatalities through improved infrastructure, enforcement, and vehicle safety standards.
Despite this progress, accidents on high-speed highways like the E18 remain a major concern. The European E18 route itself spans from Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg, with the Norwegian section being one of its most trafficked and topographically challenging parts. Experts point to a confluence of factors that typically contribute to such multi-vehicle incidents. “On highways like the E18, we often look at driver attention, speed adaptation, and maintaining safe distances,” explained safety researcher Kari Nilsen. “A momentary lapse by one driver in dense, fast-moving traffic can have catastrophic consequences. External factors like sudden weather changes or road surface conditions also play a role.”
Investigation and Infrastructure Scrutiny
The formal investigation led by the Accident Investigation Board will seek to determine the precise sequence of events. Investigators will examine vehicle data recorders, witness statements, road markings, and weather data. The location of the crash, immediately north of a major interchange, will likely bring the Gullikrysset intersection's design and traffic flow patterns under scrutiny. Are the merging and exiting lanes sufficiently long? Is signage clear for drivers approaching the junction? These are standard questions following an incident at such a location.
Norway has invested heavily in upgrading the E18, including extensive tunneling and the construction of new bypasses to improve safety and capacity. However, older sections of the highway, particularly near urban areas where local and through traffic mix, present persistent challenges. The findings from this investigation will contribute to a national database used to prioritize future safety upgrades. “Every serious accident is analyzed not to assign blame, but to understand systemic weaknesses,” Nilsen added. “The goal is to modify the transport system—the road, the rules, or vehicle technology—to prevent recurrence.”
The Human and Economic Toll
Beyond the statistics and traffic reports are the individuals and families directly affected. Multi-vehicle collisions often result in a complex range of injuries, from minor whiplash to life-altering trauma. The psychological impact on those involved and on first responders can be profound. Local hospitals in Vestfold were placed on alert following the crash to receive casualties.
The economic toll is also significant. Delays for freight transport increase logistics costs, which can affect everything from supermarket shelves to industrial production schedules. Commuters lose productive hours stuck in traffic. While Norway's robust emergency response protocols swing into action efficiently, the cost of a major highway closure runs into millions of kroner per day in lost productivity and added logistics expenses.
For the police and road administration, the immediate priority is clearing the scene, assisting the injured, and conducting a thorough investigation. Subsequently, the focus will shift to restoring traffic flow and, ultimately, implementing lessons learned. The Gullikrysset intersection has now been added to a long list of sites across Norway where tragedy has prompted a forensic examination of our road networks. The country's commitment to Vision Zero means that each incident, while a failure, is treated as a critical data point in the ongoing struggle to make transport perfectly safe. As the tow trucks clear the wreckage and traffic slowly resumes, the harder work of understanding why it happened—and how to stop it happening again—is just beginning.