EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 13.2.2026

SWD(2026) 41 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Monitoring Road Safety Progress in the EU - Finland

Accompanying the document

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Report on the Implementation of the EU Road Safety Policy Framework at the Mid-Point

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Contents

1. Summary    

2. Road Safety Strategy and Measures    

2.1 Road Safety Strategy    

2.2 Road Safety Governance    

2.3 Main Safety Issues    

2.4 Road Safety Targets    

2.5 Road Safety Measures    

3. Road Safety Progress    

3.1 Road Safety Outcomes    

3.2 Road Safety Performance Indicators    

4. Monitoring Road Safety Strategy Implementation    

4.1 Implementation Progress    

4.2 Gaps    

5. Conclusions and Recommendations    

1. Summary

In 2024, Finland was among the best performing countries in the EU with 32 fatalities per million inhabitants, while the EU average was 45. Compared to 2019, a decrease of 15% in road fatalities was achieved. In 2023, 872 people were seriously injured, which is which is only slightly lower than the respective figure in 2019.

Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Finland showed a high proportion of car occupants and fatalities on roads outside urban areas. Also, the share of serious injuries on urban roads is higher than the respective share of fatalities.

In the Finnish Traffic Safety Strategy 2022-2026, the targets of halving the numbers of road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2020 have been set. These interim goals also guide the implementation of the traffic safety strategy and the traffic safety work towards close to zero road deaths by 2050 (Vision Zero).

In the action plan included in the traffic safety strategy 2022-2026, a total of 103 traffic safety measures have been defined. The measures are grouped under seven strategic guidelines, and each has a responsible party. 67 out of the 103 traffic safety measures concern road safety. An impact assessment of some of the interventions of the action plan was carried out during the preparation of the Strategy.

Based on the latest available data, Finland has made reasonable progress and is broadly on track to meet the 2030 target of halving the number of road fatalities.

Regarding the progress of the implementation of the road safety actions foreseen in the national strategy for the period 2022-2024, there is smooth implementation flow without any particular gaps being reported. Nearly all measures planned for the examined period are on track. A few are on hold, i.e. speed limit guidelines and responsibility models for transport companies.

According to the self-reported assessment, among the main challenges in implementing the traffic safety strategy is the lack of special funding for the implementation of the actions included in the strategy. Additionally, the lack of clear interim targets and indicators has been identified as a challenge.

Finally, the implementation progress of the foreseen actions appears to be well on track in Finland, which is also partially reflected in the progress made in terms of road safety outcomes. Finland is making reasonably good progress towards meeting the 2030 fatality target. For serious injuries, little progress has been achieved. Possible actions include:

·setting up a dedicated road safety fund to accelerate the implementation of specific actions,

·exploring any other relevant activities, with special emphasis on those preventing serious injuries.

2. Road Safety Strategy and Measures

2.1 Road Safety Strategy

The Finnish Traffic Safety Strategy 2022-2026, including an Action Plan, was adopted by Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, with contributions from various government agencies, experts, and stakeholders. This strategy, published in 2022, outlines Finland’s objectives for enhancing road safety over the coming years.

This is the first time that the Traffic Safety Strategy includes all modes of transport: road, rail, water and air traffic. According to the Vision Zero of the Strategy, by 2050 nobody shall die or be seriously injured in traffic, regardless of the mode of transport.

Table 10.1: National traffic safety strategy

2.2 Road Safety Governance

The Traffic Safety Strategy has been prepared through extensive, cross-sectoral stakeholder cooperation. The steering group and working groups have included representatives from key ministries, authorities, municipalities, associations, organizations, and other stakeholders from the perspective of traffic safety.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, Statistics Finland, Police, Liikenneturva (Finnish Road Safety Council), the Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI) and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency are responsible for the monitoring of road safety developments in the country.

2.3 Main Safety Issues

Based on the progress achieved and the future challenges, a series of challenges have been highlighted in the Traffic Safety Strategy of Finland 1 :

·Large share of killed passenger car occupants in road crashes (58% during the period 2016–2020).

·Young drivers are over-represented in crashes, and between 2016 and 2020, 18% of road traffic fatalities were 15–24-year-olds.

oSerious crashes among young people are characterized by speeding and, as a result, running off the road.

oThere are deficiencies in the use of safety equipment.

oCrashes often involve the abuse of alcohol and other substances.

·The elderly are also over-represented in serious road traffic crashes due to the population structure in Finland.

·A high share of road traffic deaths occurs on highways and trunk roads (55%).

·The number of drink-driving crashes has decreased in recent years, but the number of crashes related to the use of drugs or mixed substances has increased.

2.4 Road Safety Targets

Following Finland's commitment in the Valletta Declaration in 2017, the following targets have been set in the Finnish Road Safety Strategy:

·By 2030, a 50% reduction in fatalities compared to 2020.

·By 2030, a 50% reduction in serious injuries compared to 2020.

These interim goals also guide the implementation of the traffic safety strategy and the traffic safety work towards the Vision Zero of 2050.

2.5 Road Safety Measures

A total of 103 traffic safety measures are included in the action plan, which is part of the traffic safety strategy of Finland. The measures are grouped under seven strategic guidelines, and each has a responsible party. 67 out of 103 traffic safety measures concern road safety.

Some of the measures were prioritised and a descriptive impact assessment is available for each measure 2 . Quantified impact estimates are available for specific groups of measures for the entire strategy period.

Table 10.2: Traffic safety strategic guidelines and number of measures

3. Road Safety Progress

3.1 Road Safety Outcomes

Based on data for 2024, Finland ranked 6th out of the 27 EU countries in terms of the lowest numbers of fatalities per million inhabitants. In fact, 32 road fatalities per million inhabitants were recorded that year, which is well below the EU average (45).

Figure 10.1 Mortality rates by country, 2024

Sources: CARE database on road crashes; population data from Eurostat (online data code demo_pjan ).

In 2024, the number of fatalities decreased by 15% compared to 2019 3  while the number of serious injuries decreased by 2.5% in 2023 compared to 2019.

Figure 10.2 Road fatalities and target 2030
(Source CARE database)

Figure 10.3 Serious road injuries
(Source: Statistics Finland) 4

Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Finland showed a high proportion of car occupants and fatalities on roads outside urban areas 5 . In fact, 51% of killed road users were car occupants in 2023 and 66% of fatalities occurred outside urban areas, on non-motorway roads. This is mainly attributed to the fact that Finland is a sparsely populated country compared to most EU countries. The proportion of trips by car is bigger than in other countries, when looking at household travel surveys. The share of serious injuries occurred on urban roads is higher than the respective share of fatalities.

An overview of the evolution of road fatalities for the years 2019 and 2023 (year with the latest available detailed crash data) is provided below for specific types of roads, crashes and road users.

The number of total fatalities decreased by 12% in 2023 compared to 2019. The highest decrease was recorded in fatalities in multi-vehicle crashes (33%). On the other hand, the number of pedestrian fatalities and fatalities inside urban areas increased considerably over this period.

Table 10.3: Evolution of road fatalities, 2019-2023

3.2 Road Safety Performance Indicators

The use of seat-belts is higher in Finland compared to the EU average, while the rate of self-reported drink-driving is substantially lower than the EU average. The average age of the passenger car fleet in Finland is a bit higher than the EU average.

Table 10.5: Road Safety Performance Indicators, 2022 – 2025 (Source: ERSO, Country Profiles)

Sources: a Baseline and Trendline projects, b ETSC (2022), c ESRA3 project (2024), d ACEA (2024, 2025), Notes: *2025 data only for weekdays

4. Monitoring Road Safety Strategy Implementation

4.1 Implementation Progress

Road Safety Management

Based on the self-reported assessment, all measures related to this pillar are on track.

Table 10.6: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to road safety management

Concerning the area of national road safety authority, in Finland, the Ministry of Transport has only one part of the lead agency's tasks and resources. Various authorities cooperate closely, with different ministries being represented in each other's working groups related to road safety. While there is good cooperation between stakeholders, there is still room for further development.

In the road safety strategy of Finland, a national road safety budget is not considered. Road improvement projects are prioritized according to the goals set in the National Transport System Plan.

Concerning the road safety legislation area, many legislative projects have been carried out lately or are in progress.

In Finland, there is no single responsible body for road safety statistics, and there are no plans to create one. Several organisations are involved in the data collection and analysis. Based on the self-reported assessment, most actions for improving road safety statistics are in progress or completed. The participation in the Trendline project and the collection of Key Performance Indicators is among these actions.

Safe Road User Behaviour

In relation to the pillar of Safe Road User Behaviour, all measures are on track.

Table 10.7: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to road user behaviour

Specifically, most of the actions related to the enforcement are in progress or completed. A new programme for police traffic enforcement for 2021–2030 has been prepared. Also, most of the education related actions are in progress. It is noted that Finland has a strong foundation for road safety education in schools, but its implementation varies by region and school. Continuous development, consideration of new modes of transport, and close cooperation between different stakeholders are key to enhancing road safety education.

Concerning the training of novice drivers, special attention has been given to bicycle traffic in both theoretical and practical driving training.

Additionally, there is a continuous official and organizational communication for road safety issues.

Regarding the vulnerable road users, actions related to lowering speed limits in areas with high traffic volumes of cyclists and pedestrians and around schools and day-care centres are in progress. Also, actions related to safety of micromobility are on track.

In terms of fitness to drive, Finnish doctors will know in future when they meet a patient what kind of driving licence he/she has and if he/she has a driving disqualification.

Finally, the legislation on the transport of dangerous goods has been reformed.

Safe Speeds

Regarding the Safe Speeds pillar, all measures are on track.

Table 10.8: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to safe speeds

Speed limits have been lowered for a long time in many downtown areas and streets, with high shares of pedestrians and cyclists. Also, the update of the guidelines on speed limits on public roads is on hold, since after a comment round in 2021, there was a strong opposition against lowering the 100 km/h speed limits to 80km/h in some part of road network.

In terms of enforcement, the police carry out daily speed checks in different parts of Finland. The use of automatic speed cameras is lower than in 2017, due to problems in the speed ticket process.

Also, for Finland, updating and monitoring speeds and speed limits is a continuous process.

Safe Roads

Regarding the Safe Roads pillar, based on the self-reported assessment all related measures are on track.

Table 10.9: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to safe roads

In particular, legislation is being prepared on the powers of cities to better manage micromobility.

Concerning urban infrastructure for VRUs, measures are implemented annually as part of the basic road maintenance and development projects. 5-30 million euros are distributed from the state to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure annually.

Concerning road safety designs, Finland starts from a high level, aiming to maintain and ensure the required quality level throughout the country.

In relation to road safety audits and inspections, the implementation of network-wide road safety assessment was completed in 2024 7 .

Safe Vehicles

In relation to the pillar of Safe Vehicles, the measures of the national traffic safety strategy concerns only the automation preparation, which is on track.

Table 10.10: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to safe vehicles

So far, a memorandum proposing legislative amendments related to automation preparation is currently under consultation.

Post Crash Care

The current Finnish strategy does not contain any measures related to the pillar of Post-Crash Care.

Table 10.11: Self-reported assessment of implementation progress of measures related to post crash care

4.2 Gaps

According to the self-reported assessment, among the main challenges in implementing the traffic safety strategy is the lack of special funding for the implementation of the actions included in the strategy. Most of the actions are planned to be implemented with current resources of the responsibility parties and by retargeting activities. Additionally, the lack of clear interim targets and indicators has been identified as a challenge.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

In the Finnish Traffic Safety Strategy 2022-2026, the targets of halving the numbers of road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2020 have been set. These interim goals guide the traffic safety work towards the zero vision of 2050. In the action plan included in the traffic safety strategy 2022-2026, 103 traffic safety measures have been defined, grouped under seven strategic guidelines. Out of these traffic safety measures, 67 concern road safety.

In 2024, Finland was among the best performing countries in the European Union in terms of fatality rates (6th with the lowest fatality rate). Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Finland showed a high proportion of car occupants and fatalities on roads outside urban areas.

Based on preliminary data, between 2019 and 2024, a decrease of 15% in road fatalities was recorded. The number of serious injuries decreased by 3% over the period 2019-2023. Therefore, Finland is close to being on track to meet the 2030 target of halving the number of fatalities but needs further efforts to meet the target of a 50% reduction in serious injuries.

It is noted that only the numbers of fatalities inside urban areas and pedestrian fatalities increased over the period 2019-2023.

Regarding the progress of the implementation of the road safety actions foreseen in the national strategy for the period 2022-2024, there is a smooth implementation flow. All planned measures are well on track, which is also partially reflected in the progress made in terms of road safety outcomes (fatalities). Finland is making good progress towards meeting the 2030 fatality target, though is not quite on track. For serious injuries, progress has been slow. Possible actions include:

·setting a dedicated road safety fund to accelerate the implementation of specific actions,

·exploring any other relevant activities, with special emphasis on those preventing serious injuries.

(1)

Ministry of Transport and Communications, Finland. (2022). Road Safety Strategy 2022. Available at:

https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/163951/LVM_2022_3.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y  

(2)

Ministry of Transport and Communications, Finland. (2022). Road Safety Strategy 2022. Available at:

https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/163951/LVM_2022_3.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

(3)

For all Member States, 2019 has been used as the baseline year for the monitoring of 2030 targets in this report, which is used at EU level. Finland has set 2020 as the baseline year.

(4)

National data on serious injuries concern both police data and hospital data. These data differ from those in the CARE database, where only police data are available.

(5)

European Commission (2023), Country Profile Finland. Road Safety Observatory. Brussels, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport.

(6)

An EU average is not available for speeding, due to different legal speed limits among countries, which does not allow for a straightforward comparison.

(7)

More info at: https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/189152 and https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/189153