Finland does not issue traffic penalty fees when foreign-registered vehicles are caught speeding by automatic speed cameras.
According to Chief Inspector Dennis Pasterstein, head of the police traffic surveillance unit, Finnish law permits sending traffic penalty fees abroad — but in practice, this doesn’t happen due to technical limitations.
"When it's detected that the vehicle is foreign-registered, the case is considered closed and no further action is taken," he said.
Pasterstein said EU legislation allows each country to decide for itself to which countries traffic fines are sent. There is no obligation to send them anywhere.
"There are various challenges to tackle, but hopefully someday we will get the IT systems into a state where we can send traffic fines abroad as well," Pasterstein said.
He estimates that thousands of traffic penalties go unissued annually. However, the police do not keep statistics or records on this.
Fines in the future
The situation may change in the future, as Pasterstein pointed out, efforts are underway to begin issuing traffic violation fees to drivers from foreign countries.
"Surely, at some point, this will come into practice, most likely first to Sweden and Estonia. Those are probably the first countries because cars from those countries are the most common in Finland. The practice can then be expanded," he said.
Pasterstein does not estimate how much fine revenue Finland loses due to the current practice.
"No such calculations have been made. We in the police do not count fine revenues or accumulations; that is not our job. Our job is traffic enforcement, and others count the money," he added.
The All Points North podcast explored Finns' relationship with speed once they get behind the wheel. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
