Police to step up surveillance of the use of safety devices and factors causing inattention in traffic

Publication date 1.4.2022 14.23
News item

The police will conduct a nationwide special monitoring operation 4–10 April 2022 to focus on the use of safety devices and factors that cause driver inattention in traffic.

A typical cause of inattention is driver’s use of a handheld mobile phone while driving. In most cases, the activities of passenger car drivers require intervention, but the same ban applies to all drivers of motor vehicles and trams.

“Using a mobile while driving raises the risk of accidents at all times. It is particularly dangerous to look away from the road while driving, for example to write a message,” says Chief Superintendent Tuomo Katajisto of the National Police Board.

The driver is responsible for the use of children’s safety devices

Data in the 2020 annual report by the Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI) reveals that 131 persons travelling in a passenger car or van died in traffic accidents, and 61 of them were not wearing a seat belt. Road accident investigation teams have estimated that 26 of the casualties would have survived had their seatbelts been secured.

According to a follow-up study by Liikenneturva - Finnish Road Safety Council, the utilisation rate of seatbelts is quite high in the front seat of passenger cars. 

“However, there is more room for improvement in the use of seat belts on the back seat of passenger cars and in vans. The police aims at achieving comprehensive use of seat belts,” says Katajisto. 

During the monitoring operation, special attention will be paid to the use of children’s safety devices. Katajisto points out that unless the child’s guardian is travelling in the same car, the driver is responsible for the use of children’s safety devices.