How To Drive Safely In Lapland? – 7 Useful Tips

Be careful of reindeer

There are more reindeer in Lapland than humans. As such, it’s quite likely to encounter them on the roads. The most dangerous times are at first light and just before sunset, in part due to the reduced visibility around those times, but also because the reindeers are most active then. Bear in mind that the sun comes up quite late in the winter (around 9.30 am) and goes down very early in the afternoon (around 3 pm). If you see a reindeer on the road, JUMP on the brakes immediately, but try NOT to swerve and just bring the car to a stop. Reindeers are not the smartest animals and might get startled by your headlights. After that, they’ll do something unexpected, like start running in the same direction in which you try to go around them. Stop and wait for the animal to leave the road, they normally just want to cross and then will be on their way into the wilderness. Oncoming drivers will usually warn you of any danger (or police for that matter) by using their high beam lights, so it’s a good idea to pay attention to oncoming traffic, too.

Maintain your distance

Now, this is something that you should be doing anyway as it is good practice to not put pressure on the driver in front of you by breathing down their neck, but it’s even more crucial to do so in Lapland. The main roads are in a very good condition and they’re cleaned multiple times a day. However, small snow particles will remain on the surface. While driving, the traction from your tyres shoots those particles up into the air, creating a kind of snowy mist, making it very difficult to see ahead. Keeping a good distance to the driver ahead of you solves this problem, as the snow has time to fall back onto the ground.

Don’t overtake in a risky manner

Again, this is common sense wherever you are driving, but its importance is highlighted in wintery Lapland. Considering that you’ll probably drive when it’s dark or at least dusk, add to that the unfamiliar roads, wildlife and a rented car that you don’t know well, judging the distances and speeds might become a bit more tricky. I’d advise you to only overtake on a long, straight stretch of road with no oncoming traffic at all. The distances that you’ll need to drive between sights in Lapland are normally no more than 100 km (60 miles) away from your home base. So, even if you’re driving behind an annoyingly slow moving truck, I’d suggest you lose your speed, maintain a good distance, enjoy the drive and wait for a safe opportunity to pass it. You may get to your destination 5 minutes later, but you’ll get there safe and sound and it’s not worth doing something reckless that might ruin your vacation… or worse.

Lose 10 km/h

This is very straightforward advice. If driving in snowy conditions is not something you’re used to doing, judge what would be a reasonable speed for that road at that time and then drive 10 km/h (6-7 mph) slower. For example, assuming that you decide you can safely drive 90 on this road, drive 80. Those 10 km/h (6 mph) will make a huge difference if you need to perform an emergency braking. This will also give you more time to react to animals or other obstacles on the road. The speed limit on a lot of roads in Lapland is between 80-100 km/h, so you need to plan a bit more time for driving anyway.

How to deal with icy patches of road

It’s rather unlikely that you’ll encounter a lot of icy roads while in Lapland because of the very good maintenance, but it might happen that there is a bit of ice in some locations. They can’t use salt on the roads because the reindeer will come and will start licking it. However, that shouldn’t really worry you, at least for one simple reason – studs. All rented cars in Lapland will be equipped with studded tyres by law. That gives you extra grip and makes it very unlikely that you’ll lose control on the ice.

Check the Finnish traffic service

Another useful thing you ought to do before embarking on a trip on the snowy roads is to have a look on the website of Fintraffic. There, you will find up-to-date and detailed information on the road network in Finland, including construction sites, traffic jams, which roads are maintained during the winter and much more. They also have a traffic map where you can filter the information you want and, for example, check for any closures up to 10 hours in advance. Another feature that I find particularly fascinating is that you can access a ton of road condition cameras and see the road surface temperature.

At this point, I should mention that you should not be overtly reliant on Google Maps, or any other navigation app for that matter. Sometimes they would choose roads that are not so well maintained in the winter and might mislead you. It’s always a good idea to check with locals which roads to take, if possible, or use the Fintraffic website to make sure you’ve chosen a safe road.

Don’t drive hugging the right end of the road

Your first instinct might be to drive as far to the right as possible, ensuring it’s easier for the locals to overtake you or that you don’t experience any close calls with oncoming traffic. This will generally be a good idea, however don’t do this if there’s snow at the side of the road. The snowplough can’t get to the most right part of it and there might be a small layer of powder snow on the side. This is a hidden danger and provided you drive on/in it, it might make you lose control of the car, and lead it into the ditch. If you feel that you’re driving onto the powdered snow, don’t panic, kill your speed (braking won’t make you lose control of the steering wheel) and then try very gently to steer the car back to the middle of the road. Making any sudden or sharp turns at the point where you’ve just entered the build up snow will most likely end in a disaster.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t be too worried about renting a car and driving in Lapland in the winter. Having a car gives you more flexibility and freedom to reach difficult-to-get-to spots. However, you should always respect the road conditions, be on your toes and not get too cocky. Driving in snowy conditions is challenging, but also could be a lot of fun! If you keep the above-mentioned tips in your mind, you ought to be able to have a safe journey and enjoy it. Remember that the emergency number in Finland is 112 and you should always contact them in case of an accident or car breakdown. Safe travels!