Police intensively monitor Easter traffic to ensure safe journey

The police started to intensively monitor the Easter traffic especially on the busiest stretches of road, said National Police Board in a press release.

During the busy traffic on Maundy Thursday, the police recommended the people to set off on journey well-rested and adopt a flexible driving approach that takes others into account.

The monitoring is coordinated by Fintraffic's Road Traffic Centre in Helsinki, where Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board of Finland Heikki Kallio and Superintendent of Helsinki Police Dennis Pasterstein were on duty on Maundy Thursday.

As usual, Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday (1 April) are the busiest days on the road at Easter.

Outbound traffic was at its busiest on Maundy Thursday between 1:00pm and 7:00pm. There will also be plenty of traffic on Good Friday between 9:00am and 2:00 pm, and even later in the north.

Occasional queuing may occur especially on exit roads in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and on highways E4 and E5 all the way as far up as Jyväskylä and Mikkeli.

Return traffic will start to increase already on Sunday afternoon and the evening of 31 March, with peak return traffic taking place on Monday 1 April between 12:00 noon and 8:00pm. Drivers should be prepared for queues especially on roads in Southern Finland.

“Only set off on your journey well-rested and allow plenty of time for your journey so that you are less likely to lose patience with other road users on the highway and you avoid unnecessary and reckless overtaking. Check that you have enough windscreen washer fluid in the tank, that the tyre pressure is in order and that the tyres are suitable for the road conditions. A sufficient safety distance from the driver in front always gives room for manoeuvre in the event of having to brake unexpectedly if, for example, an animal dashes onto the road,” said Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board Heikki Kallio.