Camera surveillance has prompted sharp increase in speeding fines

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Automatic monitoring of traffic speeds has led to a dramatic increase in the number of speeding fines handed out in Helsinki.
      The automatic camera surveillance has produced roughly one and a half times as many fines so far this year as were issued in the whole of 2007.
     
By the beginning of September, no fewer than 11,236 drivers had received unwelcome greetings in the mail from the Helsinki police.
      Last year - during the entire 12-month period - a total of 7,345 drivers had been caught speeding on film.
     
The largest number of fines were given for lane-changing infractions or for driving at just over 10km/hour over the limit. Police handed out nearly 10,000 "instant lottery" tickets to these offenders, in the form of a fixed fine.
      By contrast, the share of really large overspeeding cases was quite small.
      In the course of the period of surveillance, more than 800,000 vehicles drove through the cameras. Slightly more than 800 of them were speeding to the point where income-linked day-fines came into play.
     
"What is noticeable is that camera surveillance seems to have had an impact on the higher speeds. The share of blatant speeding cases has declined", estimates Superintendent Heikki Seppä of the Helsinki Police Department.
      August was the cruellest month for drivers this year, with 2,023 fines distributed.
      This was a whopping four times the roughly 550 fines handed out by police in the same month in 2007.
      More than 15,000 drivers got away with a written warning in the first eight months of the year.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Speed cameras in Helsinki region catch 10,000 drivers going too fast (12.5.2008)
  Traffic cameras to monitor Kaivokatu (12.12.2007)
  Traffic discipline very slack in Helsinki (15.10.2007)

Links:
  Police: Speed Surveillance

Helsingin Sanomat