The police will organise intensive control campaign at pedestrian crossings from Monday to Friday in week 34. The police will also monitor how vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists comply with traffic rules and their safety.
Control will focus on whether vehicle drivers comply with pedestrian crossing rules. The police will also actively monitor the behaviour of cyclists and operators of light e-vehicles to see whether they ride on the pavement and whether they heed give-way rules and traffic lights.
”During the week-long campaign we will also intervene in stopping and parking - for example in the vicinity of pedestrian crossings, on cycle paths and lanes - that inconveniences and endangers the mobility of vulnerable road users,” says Chief Superintendent Heikki Kallio at the National Police Board.
Vulnerable road users account for a high rate of road traffic fatalities
“Vulnerable road users accounted for 34% of road traffic fatalities in Finland last year. This figure includes two-wheeler motorised vehicles. This is why the safety of these road user groups must constantly be the focus of traffic safety work,” Kallio points out.
According to preliminary information from Statistics Finland, three cyclists, 10 pedestrians and 8 motorcyclists, but not a single moped rider, have lost their lives during the first six months of this year. The total number of injuries in the same groups is 530, of which the biggest group is cyclists (200 injuries).
“It’s worth pointing out that the police are not made aware of all accidents involving cyclists, especially single-vehicle accidents, where no other parties are involved, and so these are not recorded in official statistics. In reality, the number of persons injured is considerably higher than the official statistics show,” Kallio reminds us.
The term vulnerable road user (VRU) is in international use and means for example pedestrians, cyclists, users of other personal mobility devices such as electric scooters, as well as less protected road users such as moped riders.
