The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle lists the country's five most dangerous sections of road, based on 2012-2016 data on traffic accidents. All of the top five accident hotspots are located in or close to the city of Helsinki.
1. Ring Road I, between Malmi and Itäkeskus
Number one on the list is the stretch of Ring Road I (Kehä I) between the Malmi and Itäkeskus exits. Ring Road I is Finland's busiest motorway, with between 50,000 and 70,000 vehicles using it per day.
Last year there were 54 accidents in this area - down considerably on the previous year's total of 104 - apparently a direct result of speed cameras that were installed along the main artery last year.
This eastern section of the Ring Road is characterised by several busy interchanges, meaning high volumes of vehicles merging in and out of traffic. The sections features speed limits of both 60 and 80 kilometres per hour, with more accidents occurring in areas with the higher limit.
The most common accident reported along Ring Road I was a vehicle being rear-ended. Cars switching to the left lane were cited as a contributing factor to many of the incidents.
2. Lahti motorway, between the city centre and Vanhakaupunki
Second on the list is the Lahti motorway, number 4, between where it begins downtown at the intersection with Mannerheimintie and the district of Vanhakaupunki. There were 66 accidents along this stretch in 2016, down from 100 in 2014.
This bit of road serves about 45,000 vehicles in a typical day, and includes several intersections without traffic lights.
3. Länsiväylä, between the city centre and Lauttasaari
The first few kilometres of the main road heading west out of the city, Länsiväylä, or motorway 51, comes in third in terms of accidents, with 63 reported last year. The most common bang-up along Länsiväylä is side-by-side collisions, with rear-ending coming in second. At its busiest, 58,000 cars use the road each day.
4. Turunväylä, between the city centre and Meilahti hospital
The fourth most dangerous stretch of motorway in Finland is the start of motorway 1, the road that connects the capital city region with southwest Turku. Last year there were 74 accidents, up from 51 the year earlier. This bit of heavily-trafficked road is complicated by pedestrian traffic and tram routes. Closer to the main thoroughfare in the city, Mannerheimintie, some 35,000 cars use the road on a daily basis.
5. Tuusulanväylä, between Sörnäinen and Kustaankartano
And fifth on the list is the motorway leading almost straight north from the city centre known as Tuusulanväylä. The start of motorway 45 hosts an average of 40,000 cars a day. Last year there were 52 accidents, another considerable drop from 2012, when the number of accidents stood at 91. The most commonplace form of traffic accident was a vehicle driving into the back of another. Lane changes to the right were also established as a leading cause of accidents in this area.
Of the dangerous roads remaining, only one is not in the capital city area: Number seven in the ranking for number of accidents between 2012 and 2016 is the section of motorway number 167 that traverses the southern city of Lahti, between the streets of Uusimaakatu and Vesijärvenkatu.
Sources:
Yle used accident data collected by the Finnish Transport Agency for the years 2012-2016 to make the list. Each year the agency compiles data on accidents from information from the police and supplements them with Statistics Finland assistance. The ranking is based on the total number of accidents for each stretch of road. Road accident statistics are freely available to the general public.
The data was also supplemented by an interview with the City of Helsinki's civil engineer Jussi Yli-Seppälä.