Number of traffic accidents expected to decrease this summer

Reckless driving among young people showing worrying growth

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The total number of traffic accidents leading to death or severe injuries has decreased considerably over the first months of the current year. Consequently, the experts' expectations for the upcoming summer are clearly more positive than they were last year.
      However, many chairmen of regional commissions of inquiry - frequently officers of Finland's traffic police - are concerned about the increasing reckless driving of youngsters across Finland.
      Following aggravated violations of traffic safety, the police have confiscated and suspended juvenile driving licences more often than previously.
     
"In the province of Satakunta in Western Finland there have recently been several cases of reckless driving involving juvenile drivers being chased by police", Detective Inspector Heikki Särkiniemi from the Pori Police Department reports. He is in charge of the local commission of inquiry investigating all fatal traffic crashes in the province.
      On the other hand, according to the traffic accident statistics published by Statistics Finland in April, the number of fatal crashes in Finland from January through March was 42 fewer than during the same period last year.
     
Last year's June was particularly gloomy on the roads. Reckless driving at night led to several deaths and injuries.
      During the second weekend of last June, there were at least 12 fatalities, including several young people, as a result of reckless driving at night.
      Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications has launched a campaign that aims at improving young drivers' attitudes towards rules and traffic safety, including the use of safety belts and the cutting down of speeding. Other participants in the campaign are Liikenneturva - an expert organization in traffic safety, the police, the Finnish Road Administration, and the Finnish Vehicle Administration AKE.
     
According to Sirpa Rajalin from Liikenneturva, it is difficult to influence the pattern of reckless driving, and campaigns alone cannot change it. Rajalin calls for more efficient police surveillance. Moreover, Liikenneturva intends to continue its awareness campaign entitled Ehjänä elämässä ("Alive and Unhurt") until the end of the current month.
      The greatest numbers of traffic accidents involving personal injury occur among young people aged 15 to 24, and 70 percent of the fatalities are males. Annually, an average of some 80 young persons are killed and around 2,600 injured in traffic crashes in Finland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Two out of three motorists exceed speed limits on major highways leading into Helsinki (17.3.2006)
  More and more young drivers have to renew their driving licences (30.8.2005)

Links:
  Statistics Finland
  Finland´s Ministry of Transport and Communications
  Liikenneturva
  The Finnish Road Administration
  The Finnish Vehicle Administration AKE

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