The police will monitor heavy traffic intensively for 24 hours. Monitoring will begin at 6am on Wednesday 16 May and end at 6am on Thursday 17 May. All police departments in Finland will participate in the operation.
During the monitoring of heavy traffic, with regard to goods vehicles the focus will be on compliance with regulations related to driving hours and rest periods, the technical condition of vehicles, and the securing of loads.
– The number of offences related to driving hours and rest periods have been increasing during the January-April monitoring period. Nearly a thousand sanctions have been imposed, which is around 30 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year, says police inspector Kari Onninen of the National Police Board.
In the case of bus traffic, in particular, the control will focus on chartered coaches and compliance with driving hour and rest period legislation, professional qualifications, operating licenses, passenger volumes and the use of safety equipment.
People should remember that they must use seatbelts, if they are available, when travelling by bus. However, only about half (52%) of respondents to a survey on road safety in December 2015 reported that they always, or almost always, fastened their seatbelts.
A third of respondents reported that they never, or very rarely, use seatbelts when travelling by bus. The most common reasons for not wearing a seatbelt included being used to travelling without one and forgetting to fasten the seatbelt.
Seatbelts have been compulsory on coaches since 2006. The installation of seatbelts for all seats on new coaches has been mandatory since 1999. However, the requirement does not apply to buses designed for urban traffic, which have places for standing passengers.
