Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 15.6.2025

New restrictions on driving for 17-year-olds

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New restrictions on driving for 17-year-olds

The topic of this week’s news is the new restrictions on driving for 17-year-olds.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications is preparing a law that would prohibit 17-year-olds from driving at night.

The reason is the accidents that have happened to young drivers quite a lot.

We will now tell you more about the legal change and its reasons.

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Accidents involving young people have increased, even though traffic safety has generally improved. Photo: Simo Pitkänen / Yle

Driving ban at night

The biggest change is that 17-year-old drivers will be banned from driving at night.

The plan is that 17-year-olds will not be allowed to drive between midnight and 5 a.m.

The car of 17-year-old drivers must also be marked with a sticker so that the police can easily enforce the ban.

The purpose of the legislative amendment is to improve traffic safety.

Many traffic accidents involving young people occur at night.

In accidents involving young people, it is common for there to be many young people in the car and for the car to be driven at high speed.

Often, drugs and dangerous behavior are also involved.

Previous update

In Finland, you can get a driver’s license when you are of legal age, i.e. 18 years old.

However, you can get a driver’s license with an exception at the age of 17.

In 2018, the driving license law was relaxed.

For example, the amount of driving lessons and theory lessons was reduced. It was also made easier for minors, i.e. 17-year-olds, to obtain a driving license.

That is why the number of 17-year-old drivers has increased since 2018. At the same time, accidents involving young people have increased.

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Four young people died in Klaukkala, Nurmijärvi, in January when their car plunged into a river. Photo: Sasha Silvala / Yle

Traffic safety

In Finland, traffic safety issues are studied and instructed by the Finnish Traffic Safety Association.

Pasi Anteroinen, CEO of Liikenneturva, says that the new law is good and necessary.

Anteroinen estimates that traffic accidents among young people will decrease when 17-year-olds are banned from driving at night.

Other new rules

There will also be other new rules in the Driving Licence Act.

Young drivers will receive more training on traffic risks.

Moped and tractor drivers will be required to undergo additional training if they have been banned from driving due to violations.

The process of obtaining a driver’s license with an exemption for 17-year-olds will also be tightened.

Repetition

The topic of the week was the new restrictions on driving for 17-year-olds. Let’s recap the most important things.

Drivers under the age of 17 are prohibited from driving at night.

Cars for 17-year-olds must be marked and traffic education must be increased.

The goal of the legal reform is to reduce accidents.

The goal is for the new law to come into force by next summer.

This was a news week in plain Finnish. See you again, let’s hear from you!