Ring Road I in the Helsinki region will be equipped with speed cameras starting in the beginning of February. The cameras as expected to reduce traffic accidents.
Ring Road I is the innermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region. According to calculations conducted at several monitoring stations, Ring Road I carries approximately 90,000 vehicles in a day, and a significant number of these vehicles travel at speeds above the speed limit. Ring Road I features the highest number of accidents of all Finnish highways: accidents average 240 and personal injuries 40 annually, and the accidents involve more than 500 vehicles.
Speed cameras, also known as traffic enforcement cameras, are proven to reduce speeds. Lower speeds reduce accidents and lessen the consequences of accidents.
In a recent survey conducted by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, speeds exceeded the limit by more than 10 kilometres per hour in most cases of speeding on Ring Road I. The percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit was considerably higher in the nighttime than at other times.
Speed cameras will be installed throughout Ring Road I from Tapiola to Itäkeskus. The number of devices will be 35. Some of them are already operational, and the rest will be installed in the next few weeks. The traffic enforcement stations are installed by the Uusimaa ELY Centre (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment).
According to a preliminary estimate, there were 257 deaths and 6,373 injuries in Finnish road traffic in 2015. Traffic deaths have decreased on a long term, albeit slowly. Traffic enforcement cameras are estimated to reduce the number of traffic deaths by about 30 and personal injuries by about 100 annually.
