The police controlled the use of safety devices and mobile phones in an intensified nationwide operation last week on 16-20 September 2024. The operation revealed an extremely concerning phenomenon: increased mobile phone texting at the steering wheel compared to earlier.
During the operation, the police detected a total of 970 shortcomings related to safety devices and 714 shortcomings related to the use of a mobile phone.
Most of the shortcomings in safety devices were addressed with a traffic penalty fee, but around 30 incidents were dealt with by issuing a fine for causing a traffic hazard. A fine was issued in situations where a parent had failed to secure a child in a safety device or not fastened their seatbelt, for example.
According to Chief Superintendent Tuomo Katajisto, what was striking about violations related to the use of mobile phones compared to last year's operation was the huge increase in the share of drivers texting while holding a mobile phone compared to those speaking on a mobile phone.
Whereas the total number of mobile phone violations last year was almost as high as this year, i.e. 688 incidents, last year the number of people texting on their phone while driving was just 247, compared to 360 this year.
“I think texting is much more dangerous than talking on a mobile phone since the driver’s eyes may be off the road for seconds when texting,” Katajisto explains.
According to Katajisto, the results are not surprising in other respects and the slightly higher number of violations detected compared to last year corresponds to the slight increase in the number of hours spent on the control operation.
