Latvia to Confiscate Russian Cars Violating Traffic Laws – New Measures Implemented

Starting from February 15, the State Police will be obliged to stop such cars. The exception will be the transport of diplomats and embassies. Cars with Russian license plates, which will be declared for transit in CSDD, will have to cross Latvia within 24 hours. In case of violation, there will be both a fine and confiscation of the car.

The Ministry of Justice claims that confiscation of Russian cars will not create risks of international legal proceedings. During the hybrid threat, public safety will be strengthened by removing sanctioned vehicles from Latvian roads.

The police point to another problem. Last year, 530 traffic violations with cars registered in Russia were recorded in person. Most of the fines have been paid, law enforcement officers claim. However, for speed violations recorded with a photo radar, Latvia cannot obtain information about the owner of the vehicle, and there is nothing to punish, because we do not have a cooperation agreement with third countries.

Recently, the number of cars with Russian license plates that have broken the speed limit has been decreasing, but it is still high, the police explains.

The Ministry of Justice initially planned to confiscate vehicles registered not only in Russia, but also in Belarus, but later abandoned the intention.

The same proposal proposed by parliamentarian Jānis Wittenbergs also did not gain support in the Saeima.

Additional resources have not been allocated to the State Police for the new duties and special raids will not be conducted. What was observed in the summer, that immigrants from Russia put fake numbers on their cars, is no longer observed.

Last year, motorists from third countries committed 50,000 violations. Some have exceeded the speed even 200 times. However, they cannot be held accountable. This week, the Saeima raised the penalties for speed breakers, as there is a critically high number of deaths on the roads. However, drivers from third countries will not be affected. And there is no plan to change it either.

2024-02-04 18:33:46
#Cameras #record #violations #cars #registered #Russia