Talk:Driving in Finland

Content from country article

I copied most of the content from Finland#By car 2 (get around) and some from Finland#Get in. When this article was created, I supposed the author would do so and forgot about it. I think it is very odd to have a Driving in article with less content about driving than the section in the country article. Was this intended to be a short summary rather than the other way round?

Probably the author just felt it was odd we didn't have a Driving in Finland article and created it for others to fill in the content. OK, so now I did it. Perhaps I some time get me together to condense the content in Finland, which indeed is volumuous enough to be lifted out.

I'm sorry I didn't copy all the content here first. Now the diffs say little about what was from Finland (most) and what original content or from elsewhere, and what was left out. I did not trim much, but I might had left out something others feel important.

--LPfi (talk) 20:04, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

Driving licences

The article says that "driving licences of all countries for ordinary cars are officially accepted in Finland. The only requirement is that the licence is in a European language or you have an official translation of it to [list of languages]". I now tried to find the corresponding regulations, and at least the law on driving licences has totally different wordings, referencing the EU directive and the Geneva convention on the matter.

I suppose most driving licences are in fact accepted, but that requires they follow the template in the convention and have text with Latin letters, and I have no idea what countries might have differing driving licences. I am also quite sure Armenian (or even Russian) would not qualify as an accepted "European language".

I suppose we shouldn't write "the only requirement is" if there might be other weird cases.

--LPfi (talk) 12:34, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

I changed the wording to "most". I don't know whether it is correct now, but at least people with odd licences get a hint to check whether they need to do something before arriving. --LPfi (talk) 19:33, 30 May 2020 (UTC)

This should be the official version: https://ajokortti-info.fi/en/basic-information-about-a-driving-licence/validity-of-foreign-driving-licences-in-finland

So it'd boil down to this: all licenses are accepted if the information is in the Latin script, otherwise it needs to be translated into "Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, German or French by a reliable source.". Nevertheless Greeks, Cypriots and Bulgarians don't need to worry as they're EU citizens. --Ypsilon (talk) 20:06, 30 May 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. Intelligible official info. The special rules for Macau etc. are still a bit confusing. I try to adjust the text to convey the essentials. --LPfi (talk) 20:32, 30 May 2020 (UTC)

"General limit"

Isn't the yleisrajoitus/allmänbegränsning in effect without any signs? The previous speed limit ends when you turn to another road (unless there is a zone limit), and if there is no speed sign, isn't the limit 80 km/h unless you are in a built-up area? My impression is that the additional panel is very rare. –LPfi (talk) 19:46, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Yes it is in effect. The extra sign isn't that common, true, but where one will find it is usually on the curvy gravel roads referred to in the same paragraph, in the combination of 80 & yleisrajoitus. Now, the posted speed limits may sometimes feel too low (e.g. 80 km/h on Helsinki's Ring III when there's little traffic), but when you see that combination of signs you should often read between the lines that the safe speed is about 50-60 km/h even in the best possible driving conditions. --Ypsilon (talk) 14:06, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

OK, that makes sense. –LPfi (talk) 18:14, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

The "Lahti Highway"

@RogueScholar: I think that we shouldn't use the term "Lahti Highway". Yes, Highway 4 leads from Helsinki to Lahti, but it indeed continues. From anywhere but Helsinki, other destinations along the road are more important. Lahden valtatie, "Lahti Highway", is the name of Highway 12 in Hämeenlinna (past the crossroads), and that seems to be the only formal use of the name. –LPfi (talk) 19:50, 27 October 2024 (UTC)