Police to control compliance with traffic rules and the behaviour of road users in traffic

Publication date 19.5.2023 11.40 | Published in English on 19.5.2023 at 11.42
News item
A police car is parked on the wayside to monitor traffic.

The police will organise intensive control at pedestrian crossings from Monday to Friday in week 21. The police will also control how vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists comply with traffic rules and their safety.

Control will be targeted in particular at 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 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 motorised two-wheeler vehicles. This is why the safety of these road user groups must constantly be the focus of traffic safety work,” Kallio points out.

Statistics published by Statistics Finland show that 517 cyclists, 249 pedestrians and 504 motorcyclists were injured (incidents of which the police are aware) in road traffic last year.

”It’s worth remembering 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. The truth is that the number of persons injured is considerably higher than the official statistics indicate,” Kallio reminds us.

The term vulnerable road user (VRU) is in international use and means for example pedestrians, cyclists, users of personal mobility devices such as electric scooters, as well as less protected road users such as moped riders.

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