FlixBus suspends driver after dangerous night overtaking
Friday 4th September 2026 on 17:30 in
Finland
FlixBus has suspended a driver after a bus was filmed overtaking on the wrong side of a traffic island and in the lane for oncoming traffic in Viitasaari, Central Finland, Yle reports.
The incident was recorded from a truck cabin at 1.48am between Thursday and Friday. The video shows the bus travelling at high speed while headlights from oncoming vehicles can be seen in the distance.
Professional driver Niilo Pajuniemi was travelling towards Oulu at 70 kilometres per hour when the bus began overtaking him at an intersection. He identified it as a FlixBus from its green colour.
The bus display showed that it was travelling from Helsinki to Oulu and Rovaniemi.
Pajuniemi said he was not frightened by the incident but found the overtaking unusual because the bus passed to the left of the traffic island.
“I have come across some strange situations on the road over the years, but it was unusual that the overtaking happened on the left side of the island. It saved, at most, a minute,” he said.
Pajuniemi posted the video on TikTok during the night. By the afternoon, it had received nearly 140,000 views. It had also been viewed tens of thousands of times on the messaging service X.
FlixBus media representative Natalia Sochacka apologised for the incident in an email to Yle. She said the safety of passengers, drivers and other road users was the company’s highest priority.
“FlixBus does not under any circumstances accept this kind of breach of safety regulations. The driver has been suspended immediately,” Sochacka said.
According to Sochacka, the company has also discussed the incident with the partner company involved. The driver will face employment-related consequences.
Sochacka said FlixBus drivers receive continuous training. Last year, more than 300 drivers attended over 25 training sessions in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Poland.
This is not the first time a FlixBus driver has been filmed driving dangerously. Ilta-Sanomat reported a similar incident on Highway 6 in February.