According to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), on top of locations where residents consider speeding a problem, they had received other complaints as well, but the observation of the speed limit had been people’s number one concern this time.

The police concentrate on residents’ complaints for a day every spring.

According to PPA’s Sirle Loigo, the warm weather is making a lot of people forget that the danger of accidents due to speeding doesn’t disappear with the ice and snow. “Apparently the attitude is widespread that accidents only to others, not to me, and the speed limit is broken without regard for responsibility or danger,” Loigo said.

Beyond residents’ suggestions, another reason for the police’s focus on the speed limit is the fact that the number of related offenses in the cities has lately been on the increase. There were plenty of people who did not see any danger in breaking the speed limit, but who were nonetheless worried about road safety and speed where they lived and worked. The majority of the offenders the police caught was sincerely worried about the safety of their home’s immediate surroundings, their children’s way to school, and their way to work, Loigo said. In other words, don’t drive faster than the speed limit in streets other than your own if you want others to be careful in yours.

A large share of the locations where the police are conducting speed checks this Wednesday is in Harju County and Tallinn. According to PPA, this isn’t surprising, as it’s the area in Estonia with the highest population density and the most people.

A year ago, the police caught 220 drivers who broke the speed limit, and directly interacted with more than 500.