Finland

Road Safety Vision, Plans, and Targets for Finland

Finland is one of the top countries in the world when it comes to road safety standards and  performance. The Finnish National Road Safety Plan 2005 was established by the Consultative Committee on Road Safety, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Communication. The board of the Finnish National Road Administration (FinnRA) endorsed this plan in 1997. Based on the regional road safety programmes of each district, an overall programme was compiled and presented in 1999.

The principles of operation for improving road safety are as follows:

• FinnRA shall actively work to improve the safety of national, regional and local transportation systems.
• FinnRA shall commit itself to the goals of road safety improvement defined by society, using available resources in the best possible way to realise them.
• FinnRA shall promote the safety of travel and transport in all conditions on public roads in both urban and sparsely populated areas.
• FinnRA shall reach for and implement measures that will decrease traffic fatalities and other serious injuries, in particular, in co-operation with other parties involved in traffic and road safety work.
• In developing its organisation and operation, FinnRA shall improve the public's possibility of participating and ensure the quality of road safety in product purchasing and product operations of road management.
• FinnRA shall keep its road safety know-how up to date and publicise road safety information, both independently and in co-operation with other agencies.

Based on these six principles, various specific objectives and activities have been defined for the year 2005. The base year used for the number of fatalities is 1989 (with 734 fatalities). The target set for 2000, was to reduce fatalities by 50% (367). The actual number of fatalities in 2000 was 396. The target set for 2005, is to reduce fatalities by 65%, or less then 250. Due to the fact that the target for 2000 was not met, the Consultative Committee on Road Safety presented an updated Road Safety Programme for 2001-2005, containing more intensified and more effective road safety measures. The 2001-2005 programme is based on a vision that has the following guiding principle. The road transport system must be designed so that nobody should die or be seriously injured on the roads. The aim of the 2001-2005 Road Safety Programme is to create the right conditions for a continuous improvement of the transport system, with the target of no more than 100 traffic fatalities by about 2025.

Road Safety Priorities

Most of the fatal crashes in Finland are head-on collisions, and about 75% of these, occur on main roads in sparsely populated areas. Two other main types of fatal accidents involve vulnerable road users, and single-party accidents (run off road). These three types cover about 80% of all road accident fatalities.

Long-term priority areas to improve road safety are:

• To increase the appreciation of road safety issues, with the aim to raise awareness of safety in transport decision-making. This involves sustained commitment from politicians and policy makers, as well as giving companies and organisations a more visible role.
• To curb traffic growth, with the aim to reduce the likelihood of accidents. This comprises influencing the choice of transport mode, and influencing investment decisions.
• To use technology effectively, with the aim to adopt new, well-researched methods and means. This covers targeted research input, and (pilot) tests.

Short-term priority measures to improve road safety are the following:

• Increasing the appreciation of road safety issues
• Incorporating road safety into quality and management systems
• Better integration of road safety and land-use planning
• Better knowledge base for planners
• More prominent role for road safety education in day care centres and schools
• More traffic surveillance by the police
• Improving safety in built-up areas
• Introduction of progressive speed limits
• Speed limits made more effective by traffic calming measures
• More comprehensive networks for pedestrians and cycle paths, and safer junctions
• Municipal speed surveillance.
• Provisions on the use of reflectors should be expanded.
• Influencing drivers
• Lowering the blood alcohol limit for drink driving to 0,2 mg/litre and introducing a zero limit for drugs to be considered
• Obligation to use safety equipment to be expanded in scope, and a recommendation on the use of cycle helmets to be prepared.
• Ergonomic requirements, such as hands-free phones
• The health of elderly and professional drivers to be monitored more closely
• Comprehensive road safety programme for the young
• Reducing head-on collisions and running off the road accidents, and minimising their consequences
• Review system of speed limits
• Improve safety on main roads
• Test intelligent speed controls
• Expand automatic speed surveillance and the application of sanctions for registered users of vehicles.
• Monitor driving conditions and traffic hold-ups, plus provision of traffic information to road users.

Road Safety Management Organisation

The Consultative Committee on Road Safety, an advisory body to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is responsible for preparing national strategies. The Consultative Committee comprises representatives from:

• the Ministry of Transport and Communications
• all non-transport governmental bodies involved in road safety issues (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of the Environment)
• Finnish National Road Administration
• road safety research community (Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Tampere)
• main road-user organisations (Finnish Transport Workers Union, Central Organisation for Motor Traffic, Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers)
• other stakeholders (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Central Organisation for Traffic Safety in Finland, Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre)

Road Safety Programme Monitoring and Evaluation

The Consultative Committee on Road Safety, provincial and state offices, and the Ministry of Transport and Communications are responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the road safety programme. Monitoring takes place on a yearly basis.

Main monitoring indicators are: the number of crashes, fatalities and injuries. To this end, crash datya from various sources are analysed. Road user behviour is monitored by measuring: speeds, seatbelt use, use of cycle helmets and pedestrian reflectors. Other indicators that are monitored comprise: the extent of implementation of road safety measures, traffic growth, economic trends, and police activity (hours of enforcement).

Finland produces plan for national eCall

A consortium commissioned by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has produced a plan for a national eCall pilot to start in autumn 2004. The plan concludes that aftermarket devices will enable more forceful and cost-efficient car fleet penetration than OEM eCall devices. It describes the E-MERGE compatible system architecture for a national eCall system as well as accompanying technical specifications. The plan also includes an analysis of user requirements based on an interview study.

According to the plan, Finnish authorities will set up a system for receiving eCalls at the national emergency centres as well as the other required authority infrastructures. The authorities will provide the system for the device manufacturers and vendors in order to already ensure the operation of the devices this year. Next spring, studies on the private sector participation will be carried out, with the overall aim of full nationwide implementation of the authority infrastructures for eCall in the beginning of 2006. The plan is currently only available in Finnish.

Documents

Impacts of an automatic emergency call system on accident consequences in Finland (January 2006)	.pdf (238 KB)
Preliminary Results of the Finnish Study on Impacts of an Automatic Emergency Call System on Accident Consequences (October 2005)	.pdf (27 KB)
Latest Status on eCall Project in Finland	.pdf (17 KB)
eCall in Finland_Discussion paper	.pdf (86 KB)

Links

eCall in Finland

Ministry of Transport and Communications (Liikenneministeri)

Finnra - Finnish National Road Administration

VTT - Transport Research Abstracts

VTT Communities and Infrastructure - Transport Research has published collections of abstracts since 1993

VTT - Transport, Traffic, Logistics

Our central mission is to gain knowledge throughout the customer's logistics value chain and to optimise all forms of transport included. In co-operation with our customers we develop systems that are economical and environmentally sustainable. We help in decision-making concerning diverse transport solutions and estimate the socio-economic effects of transport and traffic systems.

Helsinki University of Technology, HUT, Laboratory of Transportation Engineering
Traffic flow theory and characteristics, traffic management, simulation of traffic flow, traffic models and forecasts, transport economics, logistics and freight transport

Liikenneturva - the Central Organization for Traffic Safety in Finland

The Central Organisation for Traffic Safety in Finland is a national expert organisation aiming at improving road safety by influencing people’s traffic behaviour, values and attitudes concerning traffic throughout society. Its goal is to reduce the number of hazardous situations, risk factors and accidents in traffic and to alleviate their consequences. The means for achieving the goal are publicity and education by targeting all road users - particularly the people and organisations specifically concerned with traffic matters.

Federation of Finnish Insurance Companies (VALT)