Road Traffic Act to be renewed

The total overhaul of the Road Traffic Act (Tieliikennelaki 267/1981) has transitioned to the statement phase. The regulations concerning action and behaviour in road transport have been compiled in the legal draft. With this renewal, the regulatory framework would be streamlined to replace the ambiguities and shortcomings of the old legislation as well as prepare road transport for rapid technical advancement and automation.

The draft proposal contains, among other things, the traffic rules as well as the regulations affecting traffic management, vehicle behaviour and breaking the law.

The currently valid law is from 1981, and it has been supplemented by innumerable statutes from various years. The law has been amended several dozen times. The set of norms in the draft being now delivered on the consultation round has been compiled more closely together, and the total number of individual regulations has been reduced.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has sent the legal draft for a consultation round which will end on 13/04/2017. Statements may be submitted on the public administration's lausuntopalvelu.fi (statement service) website.

The bill supports the government's aims of streamlining regulations and dismantling norms. In addition, the reform will implement the government's priority project, i.e. building a digital growth environment.