The Act on the investigation of road and cross-country traffic accidents (N:o 24/2001) and the Council of State decree on the investigation of road and cross-country traffic accidents (N:o 740/2001) came into force on 1.10.2001. According to the act, the Road Accident Investigation Delegation appoints the Road Accidents Investigation Teams which carry out the investigation of traffic accidents. The Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre through VALT manages the maintenance of the investigations. The Road Accident Investigation Delegation and Investigation Teams work within the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre (FMIC). Road accident investigations in Finland were launched in 1968 when FMIC started them in collaboration with road safety authorities. The investigation task is carried out according to this method of investigation. Starting from 2003 it replaces the method of investigation tested earlier by the Traffic Accident Investigation Teams in 2002. In addition to the new law concerning the investigation being taken into consideration in the new method, the investigation forms have been modernised, the reconstruction method has been developed, injury analysis has been extended, the analysis of the investigation into the critical evaluation of the traffic system is conducted in greater depth, together with the production of countermeasures and safety recommendations. In the analysis of accidents the starting point is Finland's National Traffic Safety Programme accepted by the Council of State according to which the traffic system must be designed so that nobody should die or be seriously injured on the roads. The objective is to produce information and safety suggestions to improve road safety through studying road and cross-country traffic accidents. In practice, files are collected in the field investigation and they are available to the traffic safety work as laid down in the data protection legislation. - In the field investigation, information from accidents is collected on the investigation forms and concerns those parties involved, the events and circumstances. These form the basis for the event description and analyses, and from them an accident database is created. - In the reconstruction of the accident, the course of the event and calculations to avoid the incident are examined. Reconstruction gives essential information for analysis and for the computer-based accident records. - In the analysis of the accident, explanations for the accident, the factors that increased the probability of the accident and suggestions for safety measures are all examined thoroughly. - On the basis of the process described above, an investigation report is written, an investigation folder is compiled from the documents collected, and filed with the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre. - During the investigation or after, the investigation team makes recommendations for local improvements. The collected information and results of analyses are used in research, training, reporting and in another practical traffic safety work, and for the development of investigation and research-based traffic safety work. Standardisation of the method increases the quality and usability of the information obtained. However, the members' careful work and attention to detail ensure the high quality of the investigation report and other investigation material. A careful field investigation will also ensure the reliability and the conclusions of the subsequent research based on the case reports. In the planning, organising, implementation of the operation, and the use of the information, the cooperation and expertise of different quarters and international interaction increases. (Author/publisher)
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