Camera monitoring on highways reduces accident

The new camera poles erected along Highways 4 and 6 have brought down the number of accidents and driving speeds on the road, said a press release of National Police Board quoting statistics.

“We are pleased about having been able to improve traffic safety in roads with high traffic volumes,” said Chief Superintendent Heikki Ihalainen of the National Police Board.

According to the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s statistics, the accident rate in the section of Highway 4 between Lusi and Vaajakoski during April–September has reduced. The number of accidents was 27 in 2016 and 15 in 2019, respectively. (19 in 2017 and 18 in 2018)

Also, based on the automated speed measurement points maintained by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, driving speeds during September–October were lower than before. Currently, the driving speeds are at 85.6 km/h, compared to 87.7 km/h in 2016.

Zero accidents resulting in fatalities took place in 2019, while two people were killed in 2018 during January–August in the section of Highway 4 with traffic surveillance.

The number of accidents resulting in injuries in 2019 was three, compared to eight in 2018.

The accident rate during April–September also reduced in the section of Highway 6 between Loviisa and Kouvola. In 2016, 16 accidents took place during the above period, while the corresponding figure in 2019 was only seven. (11 in 2017 and 9 in 2018)

Based on the results of the automated speed measurement points maintained by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, driving speeds were lower than before during September–October. This year’s driving speeds were at 87.8 km/h, compared to 91.5 km/h in 2016.

Zero fatal accidents took place on Highway 6 during January–August in both 2019 and 2018. The number of accidents resulting in injuries was four in 2019 and three in 2018, respectively.

New camera surveillance equipment was erected in the road sections between Lusi and Vaajakoski and between Loviisa and Kouvola in autumn 2018. Traffic surveillance commenced on 11 July 2019, with a single surveillance point in each road section.

Roughly 2,100 fines or fixed fines and 1,800 cautions in total have been served on the basis of the traffic surveillance carried out in these two road sections.

Ihalainen said that the number of traffic safety cameras was increased gradually in both road sections and they now have sufficient coverage.

“The new cameras use radar technology. They measure driving speeds on the basis of the same threshold for intervention as the old cameras did, with a range of a few tens of metres before the camera pole,” Ihalainen added.