Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Transport

In the first half of 2010, the police have imposed a total of 76.5 million kroons in fines – 45% less than during the same period of time last year.

In six months, 65.5 million kroons of fines were paid – 43% less than a year ago. The share of paid fines has, however, improved slightly – by end of June, 85% of the imposed fines were collected while a year ago this share was 82%.

The collected fines account for 21% of the total amount planned for the entire year. By end of June last year, this share was 38%.

“The volume of fines imposed by the police is on one hand affected by individuals’ law-abidingness and on the other hand the resources the police have for detecting and preventing violations,” noted the press spokesperson of the Police and Border Guard Board Tuuli Härson.

She explained that the decline in fines are significantly affected by the improved traffic culture in Estonia, due to which the number of detected traffic offences as well as their gravity has decreased.

“The fall in the budget volume of the Police and Border Guard Board also plays a role,” added Härson. She noted that in order to cover the cut in the budget on staff, employees take unpaid leave days and that means that there are less working hours.