Next week, the police will intervene intensively in failure to wear seat belts, protective helmets and the use of child safety devices in road traffic. The aim is to encourage the comprehensive use of safety devices.
Anyone sitting in a car seat where a seat belt has been fitted must wear a seat belt. A Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI) report estimates that in 2021 more than 30 persons who lost their lives in road accidents would have survived had they been wearing a seat belt.
In conjunction with controlling the use of safety devices, the police will also control the use of mobile phones by drivers of motorised vehicles. Mobile phones and other communication devices may not be hand held while driving.
“Texting is particularly dangerous while driving since the driver’s attention could briefly be distracted from the road ahead,” says Chief Superintendent Heikki Ihalainen at the National Police Board.
Ihalainen says that using a handheld mobile phone while driving attracts a traffic penalty fee of €100.
The cost of a traffic penalty fee for failing to wear a seat belt is €70. In many cases, failure to ensure use of a child’s safety device is dealt with by the imposition of unit fines.
