Traffic

A young man and woman sit in a car on a sunny day, and the woman points at something outside the car.

Do you know the new traffic signs and the new Road Traffic Act?

Test your knowledge!

Road signs test

Road safety

Road safety is promoted in many ways.

  • The condition of roads and vehicles is maintained, and road users are warned of dangerous situations and poor conditions.
  • Laws and enforcement are continuously developed.
  • Improving knowledge, skills and attitudes can also make road use safer.

Visit Liikennetilanne.fi to check the current situation on the road weather cameras, driving conditions forecasts, roadwork locations and emergency alarms.

Liikennetilanne.fi
A person stands alone in the middle of a deserted road.

Young people in traffic

  • Unfortunately, young people have a lot more traffic accidents than other age groups.
  • Nearly one in three people injured in road traffic accidents are between the ages of 15 and 24.
  • People of this age are considered ready to use various motor vehicles, but it can be risky because their development is still ongoing.
  • They don’t necessarily trust authorities, and young men in particular behave impulsively and recklessly at times.
  • As driving experience and life experience accumulate, driving safety improves significantly.

Source: Finnish Road Safety Council

Road safety is primarily monitored and maintained by the police.

Typical causes of serious traffic accidents involving young people:

  • high speed, speeding
  • swerving off the road
  • not wearing seatbelts
  • drink-driving
  • a young man driving
  • driving on a summer weekend

Source: Traffic safety

We all have an obligation to help.

The Road Traffic Act stipulates that road users must remain at the scene of a traffic accident and, to the best of their ability, assist the injured and otherwise participate in the measures necessitated by the accident.

Road users are defined as anyone who is on the road or driving a vehicle or tram on it.

Road Traffic Act (in Finnish)

In 2020, the Road Traffic Act changed, and new rules were introduced for cycling.

Read about the new rules in the ‘Cycling’ section.

Cycling
A woman stands next to a bicycle on a wooden walkway surrounded by reeds, tightening her helmet.

See also the ‘Electric mobility devices’ section

Electric mobility devices

Do you fly a drone?

Are you aware of where and under what conditions you can fly your drone?

  • There are several areas in Finland where aviation is completely prohibited, such as nuclear power plants, oil refineries and locations important to the government.
  • From time to time, temporary restricted and prohibited areas are also established in Finnish airspace, for example to protect large public events or defence force exercises. Drone operators must also take these into account.

You can find up-to-date information on Droneinfo.

Help, don’t shoot!

Taking pictures and filming at accident sites jeopardises the privacy of victims and disrupts rescue operations.

If you and your friends happen to be the first ones to arrive at an accident scene, don’t hesitate to take control of the situation. Do this:

  1. The most important thing is to keep yourselves safe, so you don’t get hurt. Be careful of other cars, for example.

  2. Save those whose lives are in danger. If, for example, the victim of the accident is in a burning vehicle, move them to the nearest safe place.

  3. One of you should call the emergency number and another one should begin administering first aid.

  4. Also warn others in the vicinity of the accident, such as other road users. Someone should stay behind to direct traffic. If possible, they should put on a reflective vest.

  5. Other people at the scene can form a visual barrier around the accident site to protect the victim and ask people taking photos of or filming the situation to leave.

Emergency first aid for an unconscious person and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for adults

Do this when a person suddenly loses consciousness or appears lifeless:
  1. See if you can wake the person up by talking to them or shaking them.
  2. If the person does not wake up and is unresponsive, shout for help and ask someone who is there to dial 112 to report an emergency. If you are alone, report the emergency yourself. Put your phone on speaker and follow the instructions given by the emergency response centre.
  3. Open the airways: With one hand, lift the tip of the chin, and with the other hand, tilt the head back by pressing on the forehead. Check if the person’s chest is rising and if you can hear the sound of breathing or feel the airstream.
  4. If the person is breathing normally, put them in the recovery position and monitor their breathing until the professionals arrive. If the breathing is not normal, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
CPR for adults
  1. Put the person you are helping onto a firm surface on their back and kneel beside them.
  2. Place the heel of one hand on the middle of the person’s breastbone and the other hand on the top of the first one. Keep your arms straight. Your shoulders should be above the chest of the person you are helping.
  3. Press the breastbone 30 times in a piston-like motion at a rate of 100 to 120 times per minute.
  4. After 30 compressions, open the airways: lift the person’s chin and tilt their head back from the forehead. Close the person’s nostrils by pinching, press your lips tightly around their mouth and calmly blow air into their lungs two times.
  5. Continue cardiopulmonary resuscitation, alternating between 30 compressions and two ventilations, until a professional takes over, the breathing normalises or you exhaust yourself.

Source: Terveyskirjasto

Instructions on how to report an emergency

  1. Call the emergency number 112.

    Only call in urgent, genuine emergencies when someone’s life, health or property or the environment is under threat or in danger. If you use the 112 mobile app, remember to make the call through the app. This way, your location information will be forwarded to the emergency response centre automatically.

     

    You can also call the emergency number 112 using a foreign mobile phone subscription. Even then there’s no need to use a country or area code: just dial 112.

  2. You can also send a text message.

    If necessary, you can also report an emergency by sending an SMS to the number +358 112.

     

    The use of emergency SMS messages is primarily reserved for individuals who cannot hear or produce speech. An emergency text message can only be sent from a pre-registered phone number. A number can be pre-registered on the Suomi.fi website.

  3. Do not call or text the emergency number in the following cases:

    if the situation is not urgent, if you have general enquiries or want to ask a question or if you are reporting a disturbance where no one is in danger.

     

    Source: Suomi.fi

Take action for safety – download the 112 Suomi mobile app!

Through the app, you will receive public safety alerts and notices directly to your phone. The app also provides instructions on how to prepare for various disruptions. The instructions can also be read in the app when the network connection is down, that is, in offline mode.

Download the free 112 Suomi mobile app