The police imposed a large number of sanctions in the urban traffic surveillance campaign

The police held a three-week (4 to 22 August 2025) campaign focusing on the surveillance of urban traffic. The campaign coincided with the starting of the school year. The traffic enforcement took place on weekdays and especially in areas close to schools.

In the surveillance campaign, the police focused on the traffic behaviour of unprotected traffic, in other words bicycles and electric scooters, the enforcement of rules concerning pedestrian crossings, parking violations on pavements and in front of pedestrian crossings, and speed control. The surveillance carried out in the vicinity of schools concentrated on the prevention of traffic accidents and dangerous situations.

Visible police surveillance is known to calm down traffic and increase the sense of safety among schoolchildren. In addition to surveillance, police patrols also went to schoolyards to talk to the children as part of the co-operation between the police and schools.

During the surveillance campaign, the police imposed the highest number of sanctions on the following issues:

• 2874 traffic penalty fees and 918 fines for speeding.
• 253 traffic penalty fees for illegal use of mobile phone while driving.
• 144 traffic penalty fees for failure to use safety devices.
• 83 fines for violating pedestrian crossing rules.
• 64 traffic penalty fees for riding a light electric vehicle on pavements and 40 traffic penalty fees for riding a bicycle on pavements.
• 97 traffic penalty fees for carrying a passenger with a light electric vehicle and 5 traffic penalty fees for carrying a passenger with a bicycle.
• 91 penalties for riding a light electric vehicle while intoxicated (these mainly took place in evening time).

– The number of sanctions imposed can be regarded as significant and worrying, considering that a large part of the traffic enforcement was carried out near schools, where there are many children, says Chief Superintendent Heikki Kallio of the National Police Board.