Skip to main content

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.

Related Content

  • Canada looks to HOT lanes to tackle congestion
    March 16, 2017
    David Crawford sees an evidence-based approach to HOT lane conversions. Canada’s first high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes opened on 16 September 2016 as a pilot on a 16.5km section of existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes running in both directions along Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Way. Promised in two recent budgets
  • ATS study finds decrease in school bus passing citations
    June 24, 2016
    According to American Traffic Solutions' (ATS) results from the latest review of its CrossingGuard School Bus Stop Arm Safety Camera Programs show the automated enforcement systems continue to deter drivers who might otherwise illegally pass a stopped school bus and put children in danger. The analysis found that 99 per cent of drivers who received one ticket for passing a school bus with its stop arm extended did not receive a second. Additionally, ATS found a nearly 40 per cent decrease in the number o
  • Automotive vehicle to everything (V2X) communications market 2016-2026
    June 20, 2016
    Research by Visiongain claims that the worldwide demand for connected cars is increasing at a rapid pace. Last year, the amount of customers willing to change the car brand for better connectivity has almost doubled. The willingness to pay the subscription for connected services went up by 10% in the same period. Chinese consumers are especially excited about car connectivity; more than half are willing to change their car for better connectivity. Visiongain assesses that sales of new passenger cars equi
  • ‘Motorway drivers putting their own and others’ lives at risk’ - IAM
    May 11, 2015
    The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has discovered that more than 40 per cent of all motorway and major A road lane closures in England in 2014 were caused by 185,457 vehicle breakdowns, 40,192 of which were in a ‘live lane’ i.e., a lane with other moving traffic around it vehicle breakdowns. The information came from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the IAM, which asked for the number of incidences of lane closures on roads managed by Highways England in 2014. In total there were 44