2009 Danish Eurovision Song Contest representative, Brink, has created quite some headlines recently after admitting that he deliberately breaks traffic laws. He is stopped by the police time after time, almost killed himself in an accident, lost his driving licence, but refuses to change behaviour. Both police and the safe traffic committee are shocked
Brinck won the Danish final, the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix last year and went on to representing Denmark in Moscow with the song Believe Again. He qualified for the final and ended 13th. As a popular musician he is a role model for young people and as such both the police and the committee for safe Traffic (Rådet for Sikker Trafik) finds it problematic that he some days ago said in an interview that he deliberately drives too fast: “I generally find the allowed speed to be too low so now I am consequently driving what I am allowed to do plus 30%”.
The 30% is the maximum you are allowed to drive too fast before getting a “cut” (a remark in the police database) in your license. He admits having a schedule with how much 30% is to each limit and is as such calculating with never following the rules. Up until the 30% increase you only receive a fine.
One might believe that Brinck would have learned that the limits are there for a reason as he totally damaged his car four years ago in an accident where he might as well have killed himself or innocent people. He was driving 200 kilometres per hour (125 Miles per hour) in a roundabout and lost control over the car that ended up being crushed on a field nearby.
The 36 year old singer says that it was a stupid accident that happened as he was on his way to his grandmother’s birthday. He has so far had a total of 9 cuts in his driving license, which you lose after three cuts and then has to be without it for a while before you can take a new test in order to get it back. When asked why the accident didn’t teach him anything he apparently laughed and responded: “I guess I have this feeling that it is my car and there I am the dictator”.
Anders Rosbo, president of the committee for Safe Traffic is shocked:”I am speechless. He is a big idiot”. He continues:“With the position he has a role model for young people it is scandalous. His statements and attitude does that our work become more up the hill. It contradicts the message we send to, in particular young people, who we know are in danger of being injuired in traffic”.
The president of the national police’s traffic department is also shocked:”There is a reason we have speed limits. It is to lower the risk of hurting others and yourself and save lives in traffic. When he deliberately put it aside and drives to fast then he is putting other people’s life in jeopardy”. He adds:“It is really offensive. Those 30% are not there to tell that this is the limit to where you can still pay yourself out of it. All investigations show that even a smaller increase of speed higher the risk of being killed in traffic”.
The policeman adds that Brinck shouldn’t feel too safe though with the 30% as a judge can take away the licence if he finds reason to believe that he deliberately was driving 28-29% too fast”.
Off topic EuroVisionary can add that Brinck is working on his second album which is expected to be released in October this year.
In my view
Being famous doesn’t make you perfect, but it does add an extra responsibility. Brinck is a young musician who plays a kind of music that is popular with the young people. He is a role model that is being looked up to no matter if he wants to be so or not. Behaving like this is not acceptable though it does make him human. He can’t change his past, but he could stop acting like a spoiled teenager who does what he wants to do. Furthermore it is not very professional as he seems to forget that such things can result in people not buying his next album and coming to his concerts of the simple reason that they won’t support this behaviour and contribute to him earning money to pay the speed tickets he deliberately seeks.
The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.
