A driving licence may be conditional or restricted, which will be indicated on the driving licence as special conditions. These conditions may be related to the driver’s health or the vehicle’s equipment.
Some special conditions are attached to the driving licence based on a medical certificate. The most common special condition is condition number 01, mandating the driver to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses while driving.
Being issued a driving licence may also require that the controls and steering of the vehicle are amended. The determination and arrangement of the necessary special aids is carried out in cooperation by a doctor, the driving school and the driving examiner.
The special conditions of a driving licence are marked on the back of the licence. The conditions are either marked on row 12, if the condition applies to the entire licence, or column 12, if the special condition is only applied to a specific category.
Most common special conditions on a driving licence
National special conditions
- 103 Duplicate driving licence (the ordinal number in brackets indicates the number of the duplicate)
- 105 Exemption
- 111 Alcohol interlock (alcohol interlock-controlled driving rights)
- 113 Alcohol interlock (on health grounds)
- 114 Alcohol interlock-controlled driving rights only valid in Finland with the exception of the Åland Islands. Applying this special condition was part of the purview of the police, and the condition was valid in Finland until 31 December 2015.
- 120 AM licence, moped
- 121 AM licence, light quadricycle
- 131 Exceptionally, the minimum age for a C licence and D licence is 18 years and 21 years, respectively. The licence is only valid in Finland in the following circumstances:
- driving a vehicle belonging to the police, the rescue services, an emergency services academy, an emergency care service, the Finnish Defence Forces, Customs or the Finnish Border Guard for transportation related to their tasks.
- moving or test driving a vehicle in connection with repairing or maintaining the vehicle or moving a vehicle in the depot area in connection with washing, cleaning or refuelling the vehicle. Driving the vehicle may not be the primary task of the driver.
- moving a vehicle to vehicle sales or marketing events or between sales points. Driving the vehicle may not be the primary task of the driver.
Most common special conditions in Finland harmonised in the EU
- 01 Sight correction and/or protection (glasses or contact lenses)
- 02 Hearing aid/communication aid
- 69 Restricted to driving vehicles equipped with an alcohol interlock in accordance with EN 50436
- 70 Exchange of licence (third country licence number and issuer)
- 71 Duplicate of licence. The licence has been issued based on a third country driving licence extract (third country licence number and issuer)
- 78 Restricted to vehicles with automatic transmission
- 95 Driver holding CPC meeting the obligation of professional aptitude
- 96 Category B vehicles combined with a trailer with a maximum authorised mass exceeding 750 kg where the maximum authorised mass of such combination exceeds 3,500 kg, but does not exceed 4,250 kg
A comprehensive list of all harmonised driving licence conditions and restrictions applied in the EU can be found in the EU directive on driving licences (Annex 1 to the directive).
Removing special conditions
If you wish to have a special condition removed from your driving licence, such as 01 (glasses or contact lenses) or 78 (automatic transmission), please contact Traficom for more detailed instructions. You usually need a doctor’s certificate or a driving test to remove a special condition from your driving licence.
The police may also change the special conditions in connection with checking a driver’s health, for example. If you have received a reminder to provide the police with a doctor’s certificate and would like to make changes to the special conditions on your licence, please contact the police. Only the police is able to remove special provision 111 concerning permission to only drive vehicles equipped with an alcohol interlock. If you are restricted to only driving vehicles equipped with an alcohol interlock, please contact the police to have the condition removed.