The national traffic week's speed checks are concentrating on densely populated zones with limits up to 70 km/h, including residential areas, schools, city centers, and parks. Outside schools, the speed limit is often 30 km/h, applicable all day unless a supplementary sign indicates otherwise. At 30 km/h, a driver has a good chance to brake in time if needed, but if an unprotected road user is hit by a car traveling at 50 km/h, it is equivalent to a fall from the third floor.
Police were clearly visible along roads during the morning, and emergency police across the entire country will prioritize and conduct speed checks this week. Police usually warn about having a national traffic week because they do not want to fine as many people as possible but rather reduce speed on the roads. A key aspect of the strategy involves preventive measures, with the focus particularly on checks of motorcycle riders, as statistics show that speed, risk behavior, and driver error often underlie serious motorcycle accidents.
As a preventive measure, Utrykkingspolitiet will check 15,000 motorcycle riders during this season. These efforts unfold against a backdrop of declining traffic enforcement in the United States, where over the past decade, there has been a significant reduction in the number of police interventions for traffic violations. Traffic stops made in Los Angeles in 2023 were more than 50% lower compared to 2019 traffic stops, while in Pittsburg, traffic stops are down 63% compared to 2017 figures.
In Oakland, traffic stops are down 71% since 2016. Concurrently, roadway fatalities have increased significantly in recent years, with 42,795 people dying in traffic crashes in the United States in 2022. Traffic deaths surged 30% over the past decade, with nearly 10,000 more fatalities annually when compared to 32,893 in 2013.
S. accounted for 28% of all traffic fatalities in 2023. S.
killed 1,149 people in 2022. , with 37,701 people injured, an increase of 18% from 2018. Speeding was the leading factor in 34% of work zone fatalities and injuries to drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and workers.
In contrast, some regions are adopting proactive strategies, such as Surrey County Council's Vision Zero Road Safety Strategy, which was approved by Cabinet on 23 July 2024 and then subsequently by the Surrey RoadSafe board. Surrey has an average of between 20 and 30 fatalities on its roads in recent years, as well as many hundreds of serious injuries. Similarly, in Finland, the Police Strategy 2024-2028 has prioritised improving the efficiency and effectiveness of police traffic safety work as one of the measures.
All the key figures mentioned have shown a positive trend compared to 2023, and the Traffic Safety Strategy 2022-2026 has set an intermediate target of halving road deaths and reducing serious injuries by 2030 compared to the level in 2020. According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland, 171 people lost their lives in road traffic in 2024. Inappropriate speed is the third most common contributory factor in road accidents, especially those involving fatalities.
In Spain, in 2023 with 24 hour data within the scope of the DGT, 211 fatalities were recorded in which speed was a factor, and on main roads in Spain, 63% of cars drive within the speed limit. European efforts are coordinated through initiatives like ROADPOL's second pan-European Speed Operation for 2024, running from 5 to 11 August. The same time last year more than 650,000 speeding violations were detected during the operation.
Exceeding speed limits is recognized as the single most major cause of death on roads in Europe. On average, 70 people are killed every day in Europe as a result of collisions. 5 million decisions under the Wahv were issued in 2023 (8,463,917).
Most of the offences were speed limit violations: nearly 6 million in 2024 (5,969,817, down from 6,546,450 in 2023). Other offenses include parking violations in 2024 at 465,819 (473,539 in 2023), running a red light in 2024 at 214,962 (233,512 in 2023), and handheld phone use in 2024 at 165,408 (198,841 in 2023). The UK shows a positive trend, with the percentage of car drivers exceeding the speed limit on motorways and 30mph roads falling during 2024 – continuing the broadly downward trend seen since 2018.
Reactions and implications of varying enforcement effectiveness across regions suggest that while some areas see improvements, others struggle with rising fatalities, underscoring the need for tailored approaches. The unknown factors include how the reported trends in traffic fatalities and enforcement effectiveness vary by country or region and what factors explain these differences, which could inform future policy decisions. As operations continue, authorities aim to balance visibility and prevention, but the full impact of this week's efforts will only become clear with time and data analysis.