Norway - a third world country?

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were visiting Sweden over the weekend. We came home late Sunday evening after driving from Lund in southern Sweden to Oslo in Norway, where we live. Before we reached Gothenburg on the way north, it had become dark. The following few hours gave us an interesting experience.

As long as we were driving in Sweden, the highway was dark without any street lights  -  except when driving through cities and villages. But when we crossed the Norwegian border and drove the remaining 100 kilometres to Oslo, the highway was bright due to street lights  -  even in the remote areas between cities and villages.

One of the main issues in Norway during this winter as well as the previous winters, has been the energy prices. During the latest years, the prices have increased due to higher industry consume and lack of energy sources. Knowing this, it is quite amazing that Norwegian highways between the Swedish border and Oslo are covered by street lights all through the night. While in our neighbor country Sweden, the highways are dark all through the night. I am sure that Norway could save quite much energy by following Sweden in this matter.

One reason for not following Sweden, could be of traffic safety. But if it works in Sweden, why not in Norway? Let us develop.....