Finnish fines hike brings reduction in offences

Doubling summary penal fees has improved traffic behaviour, according to police in Finland. A recent legal amendment has reduced the number of penal orders and fees issued in September and October.
November 24, 2015 Read time: 1 min

Doubling summary penal fees has improved traffic behaviour, according to police in Finland. A recent legal amendment has reduced the number of penal orders and fees issued in September and October.

“These results suggest that doubling the penalties has improved drivers' behaviour on the road,” says Chief Superintendent Heikki Ihalainen of the National Police Board.

Summary penal fees were increased by a government decree from 1 September 2015 onwards. The summary penal fees were doubled, with the exception of the highest fee of US$122 which was raised to US$213.

According to Ihalainen, the number of summary penal orders issued by the police dropped by about a thousand and the number of summary penal fees by about 3,000 in September and October compared to the same period last year.

Enforcement

Related Content

  • Stronger penalties needed for texting drivers says IAM
    September 18, 2013
    Drivers convicted of causing death by dangerous driving should be given stronger and more consistent penalties, according to road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). An IAM analysis of eleven recent prosecutions involving mobile and smartphone use revealed that the average sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is four-and-a-half years in prison and a disqualification from driving for seven years. In all of the cases analysed, the convicted drivers were found to have lost the
    Read More
  • High-speed WIM moves onto the main highway
    May 24, 2016
    High-speed weigh-in-motion is starting to make its mark on both sides of the Atlantic. As a transit country the Czech Republic experiences a large number of overloaded vehicles, which greatly increase highway maintenance costs. This prompted its Transport Ministry to trial an extension of the capabilities of the existing truck tolling system to allow the dynamic high-speed weighing of cargo vehicles. In effect the tolling enforcement gantries become weigh-in-motion (WIM) locations.
    Read More
  • Truck driver with foot on dashboard is among 4,000 drivers caught by unmarked HGV Cab
    November 7, 2017
    Highways England has released footage of a truck driver checking his phone while his right foot was on the dashboard. Spotted by Humberside Police, the driver was travelling from the M18 onto the M62 near Goole and is one of 4000 dangerous drivers on UK roads caught by a single unmarked HGV cab over a two year period. Another driver was pulled over by Devon and Cornwall Police and was found to have sent 10 replies to 10 texts within one hour and a driver in Surrey was seen trying to put toothpaste on a to
    Read More
  • Houston Police: increase in crashes when red-light safety cameras removed
    November 7, 2014
    A new report shows a 30 per cent increase in fatal traffic collisions and a 117 per cent increase in total traffic crashes at 51 intersections in Houston where red-light safety cameras once stood. New figures from the Houston Police Department released by the National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) show total traffic collisions more than doubled from 4,147 in 2006-2010 when cameras were in use to 8,984 in 2010-2014, when cameras were not in operation. The city ended its red-light safety camera program
    Read More

Highlighted Content