Parking rules

[MagicJ]

Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but i borrowed a friends car once and parked it back outside their house.
They had a go at me for parking facing the wrong way. Can you get a parking ticket for this?

[Mook]

Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but i borrowed a friends car once and parked it back outside their house.
They had a go at me for parking facing the wrong way. Can you get a parking ticket for this?

yes.

[Pursuivant]

Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but i borrowed a friends car once and parked it back outside their house.
They had a go at me for parking facing the wrong way. Can you get a parking ticket for this?

Q: Do you see cars parked facing the wrong way on the street?
A: No (unless its a feckless Estonian car)
Q: Do you think Finns are just anal retardely pedantic by nature (well... ) - or is there a reason for this?

[oompah18]

Tomorrow I go with him to return the car, I will ask politely why they forgot to mention the parking disk and how to use it.....
(loving this thread and I am not even a car driver- there are some truly amazing road signs in Finland for sure..................)

[Lord of Manchester]

A very simple rule to follow, when parking in what YOU would define as the city centre, buy a parking ticket from the nearest machine or, rest assured you WILL get one from one of the wardens, MINIMUM 40 EUROS !!

[Oombongo]

We should put this Jukka's post up as a sticky. My "parking quiz" pics as a 2nd. How about it?

and the winner of the parking quiz pays the fine?

[simaka]

Hey everyone
just moved to Helsinki 10 days ago. I came by car here only to find out that although the city is not densely populated, there are 0 free parking spots.. Ended up renting a parking spot from europark in Ruoholahti on a monthly basis for obscene amount of money, so that I can drive from Espoo every day to work.

A question - how come many crossroads don't have road signs for priority if you are on the road that has it (the priority)? Only if you are crossing a higher priority road you have the upside-down triangle warning... It's really confusing, especially for an amateur driver like me

[Pursuivant]

Ended up renting a parking spot from europark in Ruoholahti on a monthly basis for obscene amount of money, so that I can drive from Espoo every day to work.

So, in other words you didn't "move to Helsinki" you moved to "Espoo" and really, if you can, take the bus! Only drive to Ruholahti if the employees have parking. Or then leave it at one of those shuttle stops. A bit crappy in the dark time of the year, but you get a deal with the parking and bus fares sometimes.

A question - how come many crossroads don't have road signs for priority if you are on the road that has it (the priority)? Only if you are crossing a higher priority road you have the upside-down triangle warning...

Because you do not have the priority - anyone coming from the right has 2nd reason to take the bus.

[Lord of Manchester]

Hey everyone
just moved to Helsinki 10 days ago. I came by car here only to find out that although the city is not densely populated, there are 0 free parking spots.. Ended up renting a parking spot from europark in Ruoholahti on a monthly basis for obscene amount of money, so that I can drive from Espoo every day to work.

A question - how come many crossroads don't have road signs for priority if you are on the road that has it (the priority)? Only if you are crossing a higher priority road you have the upside-down triangle warning... It's really confusing, especially for an amateur driver like me

Loads of free parking spaces if you know where they are, several thousand around Kuulosaari (from where you can reach city centre by metro in 7 mins there are even free spaces in Katajanokka if you know where they are, lots of spaces, just do some research !

[Pursuivant]

But if you're coming from Espoo - how the hell would you first navigate through the city in the morning rush hour and then jump on the metro? Ruoholahti is pretty crappy for free parking - theres the shuttle stops say in Keilaniemi, not sure if you pay for those or is it free. When the metro west happens the point will be moot, but before then...

[tuulen]

A question - how come many crossroads don't have road signs for priority if you are on the road that has it (the priority)?

In Germany priority roads are marked with a small yellow square on signposts:
"Priority road
You have the right-of-way at all intersections on this road until cancelled by a "Yield", "Stop", or "End of Priority Road" sign; outside of urban areas, parking is prohibited on this road."

I was a licensed driver in Germany, with German license.

[Mook]

But if you're coming from Espoo - how the hell would you first navigate through the city in the morning rush hour

In the morning the traffic starts queuing at Nokia house - luckily busses have their own lanes. Never could understand why anyone would want to live in Espoo.

[simaka]

I am too new

So, in other words you didn't "move to Helsinki" you moved to "Espoo" and really....

Good one! You are actually absolutely right... After my experience with accommodation in Stockholm, here I just took the first apartment that was available.

Regarding the free parking - I think it's too late for that - I have already contract with europark that has 2 months resignation period... And as I am an amateur driver (just started driving this month actually) I thought I would prefer to have parking handled... to avoid the additional stress.

Because you do not have the priority - anyone coming from the right has 2nd reason to take the bus.

What I meant is that on a crossroad I see no priority sign for my road, but I can see that the roads that I am crossing have the upside-down triangle for the drivers on them, marking that my road is the one that has the priority. It's just strange that my road doesn't have the yellow-white rhombus-shaped sign that tells me that I have the priority...

[Jukka Aho]

What I meant is that on a crossroad I see no priority sign for my road, but I can see that the roads that I am crossing have the upside-down triangle for the drivers on them, marking that my road is the one that has the priority. It's just strange that my road doesn't have the yellow-white rhombus-shaped sign that tells me that I have the priority...

The most common signs regulating priority (check out the rest here):


Sign 211: Priority road


Sign 212: End of priority


Sign 231: Give way


Sign 232: Stop

According to the guidelines of the Transport Agency (p. 76), the sign 211 is used at the beginning of a road which has continuous priority, and the sign is posted again 50...100 meters after each major intersection.

The whole scheme is really designed more for highways than anything else. I’ve often wondered why city streets and their intersections could not have their priority marked in some more explicit way (per intersection), without having to hunt for the backsides of the sign 231 in the crossing streets.

[riku2]

the sign 211 is used at the beginning of a road which has continuous priority, and the sign is posted again 50...100 meters after each major intersection.

I remember driving in Holland and they had found the budget for more 211 signs than in Finland, so that before each junction you (as someone on a priority road) knew who had priority. I would hope the authority in finland recommends them before an intersection and not afterwards but generally there are very few 211 signs

Generally i've noticed the road authorities in Finland a bit lacking in the budget for signs or paint for white lines. As a result you're often left guessing who has priority and you learn the priority at junctions over a period of time. This is great for those who travel the same roads every day but not so great for those new to the area.

One other cost saver i've noticed is using one metal post for speed limit signs to handle traffic in both directions. This means that for traffic in one direction the speed limit sign is on the wrong side of the road and nothing on the right hand side. Probably the letter of the law allows it but it would be better to always have them on the right hand side as a minimum.