Speed trap fines drop as Estonia requires warning signs
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In Estonia, police issued nearly €1 million less in speed trap fines in September compared to the previous year, after the country mandated warning signs for mobile speed cameras and raised the threshold for issuing fines.
Last September, mobile cameras generated €1,256,318 in fines. This September, they brought in only €199,052. The decrease resulted from an approximately 90 percent drop in the number of fines issued.
Police increased the enforcement threshold, meaning drivers now must exceed the speed limit by at least 6 kilometers per hour to receive a fine, up from 3 kilometers per hour. This change, combined with the new warning signs, nearly halved the number of violations twice over. Madis Timpson, chair of the Riigikogu's Legal Affairs Committee, advocated for the warning signs, stating that the goal is to reduce speeding, not generate revenue.
He acknowledged that one month of data may be insufficient to fully assess the impact but views the decline in fines as a positive development. Timpson also described a personal experience receiving a fine despite believing he was driving safely within changing speed limit zones.
A recent study by the Estonian Transport Administration revealed that 77 percent of drivers exceed speed limits on some roads, a rise from the previous year, and 22 percent of those speeders have experienced dangerous situations as a result.
