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Helsinki: four traffic deaths in a month, after none in a year

motorway

The Finnish capital Helsinki has had an exceptionally grim month of August in terms of traffic deaths, according to Chief Inspector Dennis Pasterstein of the Helsinki Police. No fewer than four people died in traffic collisions.

Before this, no one had died in traffic in Helsinki for a year, the broadcaster Yle reported on the matter at the end of July.

A year without traffic deaths was completely exceptional in the capital. According to Chief Commissioner Pasterstein, who heads the Traffic Control Unit, there has never been a period of a year in Helsinki where no one died in traffic collisions. Pasterstein considers the deaths that occurred within a month to be regrettable, especially after the good development that has continued for more than a year. However, he does not see that traffic deaths have now started to increase sharply in Helsinki.

Four to six people have died in traffic collisions in Helsinki every year. Random variation, however, evened out this year’s statistics, Pasterstein states. Those who died within a month have lost their lives in very different types of collisions.

In eastern Helsinki, one of the cyclists died as a result of a collision between two cyclists on a forest road.

A car crash elsewhere in the city killed two young adults. Pasterstein says the cause was excessive speeding and drink driving.

The most recent fatality was a pedestrian, who died while attempting to walk across a busy motorway.

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