Granting 17-year-olds exemptions to gain their driver's licences was a mistake, according to the director of the Finnish Road Safety Council, Pasi Anteroinen.
While the legal driving age in Finland is 18, a legislative change that came into effect in 2018 loosened the requirements to obtain a special exemption permit, allowing 17-year-olds to apply for a licence in order to commute independently to their hobbies or workplaces.
Anteroinen said that the reform that was implemented was not what was promised. He made the comments on Yle TV1's current affairs programme A-studio on Monday evening.
"Now, around 20,000 permits are issued per year, and almost all applicants are granted a permit. There is nothing exceptional about this permit. There are no conditions attached to it that would increase [road] safety," Anteroinen said.
Serious road accidents involving young people came to the fore last weekend, after a fatal crash that claimed the lives of three young people in Savonlinna shocked the country.
"The road safety situation for young people in Finland is no better than in other Nordic countries. In fact, we are below the European average. We have a lot to improve," Anteroinen noted.
Supervised driving to improve road safety
The law on driving licences is being reformed again. The government's controversial bill would allow all 17-year-olds to obtain a driving licence, subject to certain restrictions, including parental consent.
Anteroinen said the reform needs to be carefully considered.
"The change would bring more 17-year-olds onto the roads. We know that it will reduce road safety," Anteroinen said, adding that driving restrictions at night, as well as a limit on the number of people driving are known to improve road safety.
These restrictions, according to Anteroinen, could be worked into the current exemption system.
The Finnish Road Safety Council has also proposed that underage drivers should gain experience driving with a responsible adult during the first few months, when driving is the most dangerous.
"It has been shown that just a few months of driving together can make a big difference in [road] safety," Anteroinen said. "Then independent driving could begin at 17 years and three months, for example. This option must be weighed against the 40 [annual] oad deaths we are trying to prevent."