Survey Draws Grim

Picture Of Finns' Driving

                                   Law enforcement is one of the tools for improvement. PHOTOS: POLIISI.FI16 FEB - Finnish drivers drive faster than average, when tired and hold a mobile phone when driving, ROADPOL Council member Аssistant Police Commissioner Pasi Rissanen writes in a blog together with Finnish Police analyst Mika Sutela.

According to the authors an extensive international ESRA (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) survey does not paint a positive picture of Finns' attitudes towards their own and other people's safety in traffic.

Findings

Three out of four Finnish drivers said they had speeded at least once. This is well above the average for the countries participating in the ESRA survey. The driving speed in the prevailing conditions is also reported to have been too high more often than average. In addition to speedинг, the weaknesses of Finnish drivers include mobile phones and fatigue. Nearly half (46%) of Finnish drivers had talked on their mobile phone while holding it when driving in the previous 30 days before responding to the survey. A tired driver behind the wheel pushes on regardless, despite insufficient functional capacity. During the previous month preceding their response, nearly one in three Finns said that they had been so tired when driving that they had found it hard to keep their eyes open.

Pasi RissanenAnalysis

According to preliminary data, there were 173 fatalities on Finnish roads in 2023. For a comparison, back in 2008 more than three hundred people lost their lives on the roads. „Over the past 20 years, however, there have been no major changes in road traffic fatalities by road user group. Fatalities involving cars and vans have steadily accounted for around 60% of all road traffic fatalities. Vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians and cyclists, have accounted for around one fifth of all road traffic fatalities“, Rissanen writes. “The statistics raise questions as to why the relative share of fatalities involving cars and vans does not fall faster than others? Mika SutelaYou might also ask whether, despite the prevailing  positive developments surrounding road user groups, there is a certain proportion of people every year who are in a hurry to die and tired of life?“, ask the authors.

Future

„An examination of mortality among road user groups makes it seem important to address car and vulnerable road users in particular if we want to achieve a significant reduction in road traffic fatalities. Road traffic fatalities can be prevented, for example, through traffic control, infrastructure planning and implementation that increases safety, speed limits, training and education, but the most important way to prevent traffic fatalities are road users themselves“, conclude the authors. Both agree various measures must be taken to make Finnish traffic culture and attitudes on the road more conducive to the promotion of road safety.