Police traffic enforcement has a social effectiveness
The police have carried out enhanced enforcement of impaired driving during the month of July in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, the police breathalyzed a total of 64,000 vehicle drivers during this special campaign. That is over 11,000 breathalyzer tests more than in July 2022. This year, the police conducted a total of 94,000 breathalyzer tests. According to data of Statistics Finland (2024a), the number of drunk driving accident victims averaged 71 in July 2019–2022, including both fatalities and those injured. Based on preliminary data, the number of drunk driving accident victims in July 2023 and 2024 is estimated to have decreased by a third compared to previous years. Therefore, it seems that the enforcement has been successfully targeted.
The reason for scheduling the enforcement of impaired driving for July was to carry out the campaign at the busiest time of summer, during the summer event season and at the time when the number of drunk driving accident victims has been highest in previous years. The police therefore wanted to allocate enforcement resources specifically to active control of driving under the influence in order to increase the risk of being caught and reduce the number of accidents due to substance abuse.
Figure 1. Monthly averages of drunk driving accident victims (fatalities and injuries in total) in 2019–2022 (all months) and in 2023–2024 (January–August). Source of data: Statistics Finland 2024a.
About enforcement carried out by the police
In addition to speeding, driving under the influence still poses the greatest risk to the life and health of road users. According to the Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI's 2024 Driving Under Influence Report, the total number of fatal motor vehicle accidents between 2018 and 2022 was 742. Of those mainly responsible for the accident, of whom data on intoxicants was available, 38 per cent (N=271) were intoxicated, that is, under the influence of one or more intoxicants. (Räty 2024).
The proportion of aggravated cases of driving under the influence of alcohol (blood alcohol content 1.2 per mille or more) has been around 60 per cent for a long time. The risk ratio of causing a fatal traffic accident is approximately one hundred times higher if your blood alcohol content is 1.0 per mille, and up to approximately ten times higher, if your blood alcohol content is 0.4 per mille. (Luoma 2022).
The above, together with the fact that the number of victims of substance abuse accidents is highest in July, justifies why it is reasonable to allocate police working hours to enforcement of drunk driving in July. The aim is to breathalyze as many vehicle drivers as possible during the supervision, in order to increase the risk of being caught and to reduce the number of traffic accidents.
During the enforcement campaign carried out by the police, a high number of breathalyzer tests was performed on the main roads, but also on more remote routes, especially popular holiday home traffic routes throughout Finland. In areas with busy road traffic and at times of busy road traffic, mass breathalyzer tests were particularly favored in the enforcement. Individual spot checks were used more on waterways and on routes with quieter road traffic. Timewise, the main emphasis of the enforcement was targeted at times when, based on the analysis, it was known that the number of intoxicated drivers on the road was highest and so the risk of accidents was highest as well. These times included weekend nights and Saturday mornings. Summer events and the fact that this was the most popular summer holiday month were also taken into account in planning. Drivers who were intoxicated by narcotics or drugs were also subject to enforcement, but the majority of those causing a drunk driving accident are under the influence of alcohol.
Effect of enforcement on traffic safety
Regular traffic control and sanctions are necessary. Studies show that conventional enforcement in particular significantly reduces the number of accidents, even serious ones. Many countries around the world rely heavily on traffic enforcement in changing driver behaviour and improving road safety. Traffic enforcement has been shown to effectively reduce the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents in countries where motor vehicles are used a lot. Traditional “manned” traffic enforcement by the police has been found to have a significant positive influence not only on serious crashes but also on all accidents in road traffic in general. The findings indicate that traditional enforcement creates a specific deterrence effect on so-called high-risk drivers (Tay 2009).
Number of victims of drunk driving accidents and number of traffic fatalities in summer
According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland (2024a), three people died in drunk driving accidents in 2023 and 2024 in July, compared to an average of approximately seven in 2019–2022. Overall, the number of drunk driving accidents decreased by one third (-34%) in 2023–2024 compared to the average in July of previous years (2019–2022). With regard to the supervision in July 2023 and 2024, it was significant that, based on information of the police, also the number of verified cases of drunk driving was lower than in previous years (approximately -14%).
As can be seen in Figure 1, the number of drunk driving accident victims is highest in the summer months. The number of traffic fatalities also increases in the summer months. In Figure 2, the months of July are highlighted in green and the dashed lines show the number of fatalities in July 2023 and 2024 compared to other months. Since the police initiated enhanced enforcement of drunk driving, fewer people have died in traffic in July 2023 and 2024 than in July 2019–2022. Enhanced enforcement and other simultaneous more active traffic control can be seen to be reflected more generally in traffic fatalities and thus in traffic safety.
Figure 2. Fatalities in road traffic by month 1/2019–8/2024. Source of data: Statistics Finland 2024b.
About the development of the number of drunk driving cases
It was stated above that fewer intoxicated drivers were encountered in traffic in the drunk driving enforcement campaign in July than in previous years. Twice a year, the police conduct an R-study, which measures the number of drivers intoxicated by alcohol in traffic. No monitoring was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic years, and the first post-COVID study was conducted in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, the number of drivers over the limit of drunk driving was higher than in previous years (0.18%), as the number of drivers over the limit has usually been between 0.13 and 0.14%. This year, the number of drivers over the limit of drunk driving decreased to 0.12%. The proportion of those having consumed alcohol was higher in 2018 and in the years prior to that it was higher than in 2023 and 2024. It is still too early to say that the number of intoxicated drivers in traffic would be decreasing, at least based on the R-studies. The number of intoxicated drivers encountered by the police in traffic has been declining since 2011, but the development has stabilized at the current level a few years ago.
What are the factors associated with driving under the influence? In his dissertation (2011), Impinen found that low social status is related to driving under the influence among young people and people of working age. According to the study, low educational levels, unemployment, living alone and being single increased the likelihood of such activity. Among young people, also factors related to parents, such as a low levels of education and income, were also related to their children driving while drunk. On the other hand, even though among working-age people, a low income level was a precursor for driving while intoxicated, the connection was the opposite among young people, that is, a higher income meant that driving while intoxicated was more common.
In conclusion
Traffic enforcement by the police is one concrete way of changing the behaviour of road users directly on the road. Safe traffic behaviour, on the other hand, leads to a lower number of accidents and less human suffering, as well as lower costs incurred by society as a result of accidents.
Regular traffic enforcement and sanctions are necessary to make the behaviour of road users safer. According to studies, conventional enforcement in particular significantly prevents accidents, even serious ones. In addition to enforcement, it is important that people have information about safe behaviour in traffic. Knowledge provides the means for doing the right thing. Although information and enforcement do not have an impact on change in the behaviour of all people in traffic in a safer direction, enforcement can also be used to interrupt the journey of a drunk driver and prevent accidents.
The police will continue to enforcement drunk driving in order to reduce the number of cases of driving under the influence and the related accidents. The police will contribute to halving the number of traffic fatalities by 2030 and achieving the zero vision by 2050.
Pasi Rissanen
Assistant Police Commissioner
National Police Board of Finland
Mika Sutela
Analyst
National Police Board of Finland
Sources
Impinen, Antti: Arrested drunk drivers: Trends, social background, recidivism and mortality. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction and University of Helsinki, The Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health, 2011 https://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/79865
Luoma, Arto: Kuolemaan johtaneisiin liikenneonnettomuuksiin vaikuttaneita taustatekijöitä 2005–2014 (Background factors influencing fatal traffic accidents 2005-2014). Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2022. https://www.lvk.fi/document/318710/2CAFA6300EEB9C65FE7EFA1D90729276024F44EDE293FEB6435E3C075A4E1EEC
Räty, Esa: OTI Driving Under Influence Report. Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2024. https://www.lvk.fi/document/551159/00D93F3E8A11D4285C3D28CD9BEE7DE17FD1C71DFA770EE4647E0D06C64859D4
Tay, Richard: The Effectiveness of Automated and Manned Traffic Enforcement. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 3 2009, 178–186.
Statistics Finland: Road traffic accidents. https://tieliikenneonnettomuudet.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Tieliikenneonnettomuudet/ Accessed 19 September 2024 (2024a)
Statistics Finland: Road traffic accident statistics. Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). https://stat.fi/en/statistics/ton Accessed 19 September 2024. (2024b)
