Skip to main content

TISPOL video highlights Finnish crackdown on drink drivers

Traffic police in Finland have been carrying out breath tests across the country in a bid to reduce the around “58 cases a day” of drink-driving detected on the nation’s highways. A recent breath test day operation was held in Mikkeli, southern Finland and filmed by TISPOL (the European Traffic Police Network). Speaking to the TISPOL film crew during the test day, Finland Traffic Police Chief Inspector Jarmo Puustinen said, “We are doing this because we have an average of 21,000 cases monthly where people
December 17, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Traffic police in Finland have been carrying out breath tests across the country in a bid to reduce the around “58 cases a day” of drink-driving detected on the nation’s highways.

A recent breath test day operation was held in Mikkeli, southern Finland and filmed by 4753 TISPOL (the European Traffic Police Network).

Speaking to the TISPOL film crew during the test day, Finland Traffic Police Chief Inspector Jarmo Puustinen said, “We are doing this because we have an average of 21,000 cases monthly where people are driving under the influence of alcohol. Every day we catch approximately 58 drivers. This is quite a big amount, I would say.”

“We are doing a lot of screening tests and a lot of cases come from traffic [police] control. We also get tips from the public.”

The filmed traffic police tests in Mikkeli were carried out in both directions of a popular 60km/hour highway, in sub-zero degree temperatures. The results of the test day operation are still to be made public.

In Finland the authorities have access to a database of a driver’s income, with fines proportionate to the income of the offender.

Similar anti-drink drive traffic police operations are continuing all across Europe throughout the month of December into early January 2014.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Certified safe: ARTBA president talks future highways and safety
    January 16, 2020
    What keeps Dave Bauer* up at night? David Arminas caught up with the head of ARTBA at his Washington D.C. office during daylight hours
  • Tolling cheats being caught
    August 9, 2019
    A crackdown on drivers cheating toll fees is being carried out by the authorities responsible for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Several drivers have been caught in Bucks Country recently, with four having been recorded as dodging around US$21,000 in tolls over a number of years and the first of their offences dating back to 2012. The worst of these offenders made 252 trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike without paying. The other offenders made 186, 136 and 65 trips on the route respectively without paying.
  • Road safety of concern in Sweden and Israel
    January 8, 2015
    Worrying data on road safety has been released from Sweden and Israel. Sweden’s record on road safety is one of the best in the world, with a combination of tough enforcement and stiff penalties along with effective driver education and training having helped lower the country’s fatality rate. However the latest official figures from the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) show that 275 people were killed on Swedish roads in 2014, compared with 260 people in 2013. This may yet prove to be a stat
  • PPRS Nice 2018: maintenance moves mountains
    June 22, 2018
    Strategic maintenance was a major theme at the second Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Nice, France. The world is changing, mobility is changing and so roads must change and adapt for the future.” With this brief statement, Jacques Tavernier opened the second PPRS Summit. “At the same time there is a growing awareness of poor or non-existent maintenance for highways. The question for this conference is how to adapt road maintenance in the face of this challenge,” said Tavernier, in his role as