Road signs in Finland

Finnish bus stop road sign.

Road signs in Finland were formerly regulated in Tieliikenneasetus (5.3.1982/182),[1] but now are currently regulated in Siirtymäsäännökset (8.5.2020/360).[2]

Most signs are based on pictograms, except signs like the prohibition-sign for stop at customs and the sign indicating a taxi rank. If the sign includes text, the text is written in Finnish or Swedish, except the stop sign and taxi signs which are written in English (some taxi signs are written TAKSI in Finnish). Many roads and places in Finland have Finnish and Swedish names, so both are marked on the traffic signs. This is common in the Swedish-speaking areas on the southern and western coasts, whereas in the inland Swedish names are far less common. In northern Lapland there are also traffic signs in the Northern Sámi, Skolt Sámi and Inari Sámi languages.

At many unregulated intersections the practice is to yield to traffic on-coming from the right, unless there is a "yield" or "give way" sign posted for the right on-coming traffic. This can be a problem on some streets since these signs are not always visible to traffic that does not have to yield. Therefore, unless a driver is experienced with the area and its signs, they should take care to give way to the right at an intersection, even if the road he or she is on appears to be the priority road.

Finnish road signs depict gender-neutral people with stylized silhouettes since 2020; between 1982 and 2020, the designs were realistic, as was common in most Nordic countries at the time. Since the last legal reform, most of the pictograms and arrows are identical to their German counterparts, whereas the new diagrams for people are similar to the Danish models.

In addition, Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, has some in Swedish-style signs and all are written in the Swedish language.

Finland signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on December 16, 1969 and ratified it on April 1, 1985.[3]

  1. ^ Oy, Edita Publishing. "FINLEX ® - Ajantasainen lainsäädäntö: Kumottu säädös Tieliikenneasetus 182/1982". www.finlex.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  2. ^ "FINLEX ® - Säädökset alkuperäisinä: Laki tieliikennelain muuttamisesta 360/2020". www.finlex.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  3. ^ "United Nations Treaty Collection". treaties.un.org. Retrieved 2023-12-09.