Over speed in Helsinki!

[Upphew]

So, speedos have to very accurate....

(aren't they normally required only to be accurate to 10% ?)

Yup, something like that (see following link for more information), but speedos are not allowed to show too little.
"The speed indicated shall not be less than the true speed of the vehicle." so sayeth http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/wp ... 39rv1e.pdf so no need to bash finnish law makers

[hanj]

no one seems to have the actual experience of getting a speeding ticket before

it was 115euro fine when the police stopped me and said I was doing 58kmph in a 40kmph zone.

[karel]

A friend of mine once got pulled over and was told that he was clocked at 133 (where you can 80).
He didn't have a Finnish license, so they couldn't take it away. In the end he got away with 100 euros fine and 1 year probation.

So it's not all that bad.

[mrjimsfc]

A friend of mine once got pulled over and was told that he was clocked at 133 (where you can 80).
He didn't have a Finnish license, so they couldn't take it away. In the end he got away with 100 euros fine and 1 year probation.

So it's not all that bad.

There is a way for communities/states/countries to overcome the type of scam your friend pulled off. First, they impound the car and put the offender (speeding and no license) in jail for two days. Then they check the "stolen car" register to determine if the car was stolen. If the car was not stolen, they sell the car at auction and use the proceeds to pay the fine and deport the offender to his/her country of origin. If a complaint is made by a "car rental agency" or an owner who "lent" his car to the offender the answer is "too bad, you should have known better than to rent/lend to a person who does not have a drivers license". Word gets around. Problem solved.

Do I drive faster than the speed limit? Of course I do! Do I now or did I ever speed in Finland?

[karel]

I didn't say he didn't have a driver's license. I said he didn't have a Finnish license.
He had a driver's license from another EU country. Which by law, apparently, they can't confiscate.

[mrjimsfc]

Ahhh, "I see", said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw. No wonder the scam worked.

[Hank W.]

I checked my information on poliisi.fi and it says there that the minimum fine for speeding is 115€.

When you go to dqy fines. Q dqy fine cannot be lower than the highest ,isde,eqnor fine;

[Mook]

A friend of mine once got pulled over and was told that he was clocked at 133 (where you can 80).
He didn't have a Finnish license, so they couldn't take it away. In the end he got away with 100 euros fine and 1 year probation.

So it's not all that bad.

In which way is this "not all that bad". The fact that some idiot drove at a reckless speed and managed to sidestep some of the consequences.

Hey, we need some Libertarians here to meat out some good old unregulated justice... maybe you could post his name and address...

[karel]

We weren't discussing the point whether or not it was good or bad, just how much fine you get if you overspeed.
You don't necessarily get screwed if you overspeed, that's what I'm trying to say.

As for the name and address...
Never mind.

[Tiwaz]

You don't necessarily get screwed if you overspeed, that's what I'm trying to say.

Which is BAD. Laws are not there to be ignored. And when ignored, there should be severe punishment when crime can result in physical damage to others.

[antstar]

You don't necessarily get screwed if you overspeed, that's what I'm trying to say.

Which is BAD. Laws are not there to be ignored. And when ignored, there should be severe punishment when crime can result in physical damage to others.

Which reminds me of my thread on driving laws being flaunted with zebra crossings, very dangerous and the majority of drivers ignore this law!

[Tiwaz]

Correct.
Current traffic behavior is simply abhorrent.
Zebra crossings are ignored by both pedestrians and drivers (what imbecile decides to cross 4 lane road far from legal crossings?).

Same with use of alcohol and speeding.

More strict approach to these matters would be necessary, starting with 0 tolerance regarding blood alcohol and increased sanctions in speeding.

I rather like the idea of impounding car for serious speeding...
And some imbeciles suggest that speed limits should be removed. Their argument being that it is not speeding but excessive speed regarding situation which is bad. Thus if limits were removed and everyone drove at proper situational speed there would be no problems.

Of course these traffic-anarchists fail to notice that it is common that too high situational speed and speeding tend to be same thing. It is far more rare that person driving at permitted speed happens to have too high situation speed.

[antstar]

And you have to consider new drivers who have no or little experience in different driver situations! I know your a non drinker so i can understand your wanting zero tolerance. But i'm more worried about being over the limit the following day! so a little safety blanket would be nice! I'm totally convinced you'll disagree

[Tiwaz]

Well, better arrange heavy partying on days when you know you do not need to drive tomorrow.

Current trend just gives rise to trying to dance as close to limit as possible without exceeding it. Very unhealthy situation in my opinion as limit is already high enough that driver is not in 100% shape to drive.

Hell, I used to drive 100km around 4am after having spent evening and night at friends place playing PnP RPG. Stopped doing that when I realised I was so tired I saw odd black spots on road which disappeared. So by no account am I innocent of driving while not 100% capable... But I did stop doing that after that rather sobering experience.

Oh yeah, and once during those days went to hunting after maybe hour or two nap... But even then I had the brains to decide to figure out to do anything but shoot if elk came my way. Which it did not do, so I was spared of that shame...

Either way as I have stated, I have little interest if people kill themselves with cars or alcohol. But zero tolerance to misbehavior in traffic is necessary as people tend to kill or maim others when they screw up.

[antstar]

Well you have to hope that at least some research has gone into decided what is a "safe" limit and what isn't. If i have a heavy party i'm normally bed bound for most of the following day anyhow even more so with the Finnish beers which give me a horrendous headache!