Speed enforcement cameras operational again along Kehä I in Finland

Speed enforcement cameras along Finland’s busiest road, Kehä I, are now operational again. Deputy Commissioner Dennis Pasterstein of the Helsinki police confirms that the cameras have been in use for several months. There are approximately 15 enforcement cameras stationed along the roadway.

“The cameras are back in service, and normal surveillance has resumed,” he stated. These devices had been out of operation for about a year, starting in spring 2023, due to necessary updates after their measurement technology reached the end of its lifecycle. The police did not specifically announce that the cameras were inactive during this period.

Similar camera outages have occurred in other parts of Finland as well. According to Pasterstein, challenges related to the Kehä I cameras have now been resolved. “We examined what happened when the cameras were off for nearly a year. It turned out that the number of speeding incidents did not actually increase,” he explained.

Pasterstein added that the police have been monitoring these statistics. Recently, the Police Board indicated that the automatic speed enforcement cameras are intended to monitor not only speed but also seatbelt use and mobile phone usage in traffic. This would require raising the camera poles by a meter from their current height of three meters.

However, Pasterstein noted that the cameras installed along Kehä I do not incorporate this new technology. “The operation of the old enforcement cameras is not affected at all,” he said. Additionally, Kaisa Sedig, a commissioner from the police’s traffic safety unit, mentioned earlier that besides automated enforcement, the police also conduct traditional surveillance without automatic cameras. Furthermore, she clarified that there are not always cameras present inside the enforcement poles along the roads.