Police to monitor drivers' behaviour near crosswalks on Tuesday

Following the control campaign conducted two weeks ago to monitor the behavior of drivers in the vicinity of schools, the Police continues its work to ensure the safety of vulnerable road users.

According to a statement from the National Police Board, on Tuesday 24 August the police will carry out an intensified control focus day at pedestrian crossings, looking at how the relevant traffic rules are followed.

According to police information, the control is mainly targeted at drivers of vehicles and their traffic behaviour near pedestrian crossings.

During the special control day, the Police collaborates with the municipal parking control authorities and will also intervene with stopping and parking that causes inconvenience and danger to the movement of vulnerable road users. 

"The objective is to improve the overall safety at crossing," explains Chief Superintendent Heikki Kallio of the National Police Board.

According to Kallio, the control will focus mainly on cases where the driver of the vehicle fails to provide free passage to a pedestrian already crossing the road or preparing to step to the crossing.

The operation will also pay attention to cases where a vehicle or a tram standing before a crossing is passed without stopping. Moreover, the controls will focus on situations where the visibility to a crossing is otherwise limited but the vehicle does not slow down or stop before the crossing, if necessary.

There will be fines and penalties for drivers who do not follow the relevant traffic regulations

Sanctions last spring

The corresponding control campaign day implemented last spring resulted in 85 sanctions issued to drivers of vehicles for failing to give unhindered passage to pedestrians. In addition, car drivers got 44 traffic penalty fees and fines for other violations of the pedestrian crossing rules.

Cyclists and drivers of light electric vehicles got 57 cautions and 6 traffic penalty fees for failures to observe the pedestrian crossing rules. Seven pedestrians failing to respect the red light were imposed the traffic penalty fee while 16 pedestrians got a caution.

The police remind drivers that they must be particularly alert when they approach crossings and see children, young and aged persons.