Improving traffic safety in Finland calls for intense action. Automated enforcement (speed cameras) is seen as an effective measure, which is also widely accepted among citizens. However, police resources and current legislation make it very hard to increase the efficiency of automated enforcement.
As a part of LINTU - a long-term research and development programme for road safety - a study financed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and Finnish Road Administration was carried out to evaluate the amount of police work required in two different legislative systems.
It has been evaluated that to improve the efficiency of automated enforcement, laws on owner responsibility have to be introduced. Owner responsibility can be arranged in two different ways: either by administrative payment or by conditional fine. Administrative payment means a system where low speeds (for instance < 20 km/h) would be decriminalised. Speeds above the threshold would still be regarded as a criminal offence and would be handled by the police. A penalty notice for administrative payment is sent to the owner or the holder of the vehicle regardless of who was actually driving the vehicle at the time of the violation. If the owner or the holder does not agree to pay the administrative payment he/she has the right to appeal to a court. The conditional fine is also sent to the holder of the vehicle who must oppose the fine if he/she does not want to pay. If the fine is protested the police will carry out a preliminary investigation.