LATVIA; The government has agreed: cars confiscated from drunk drivers can be handed over to the Ukrainian army
The proposal was initiated by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), which will also prepare the relevant amendments to the law.
As reported, last November, amendments to the Criminal Law entered into force, which provide for criminal liability for driving a vehicle or teaching to drive a vehicle, if the concentration of alcohol found in the exhaled air or blood test exceeds 1.5 parts per thousand.
Likewise, criminal liability is provided for driving a vehicle or teaching to drive a vehicle while under the influence of narcotic, psychotropic, toxic or other intoxicating substances.
In addition, the vehicle is confiscated if the owner drove it under the influence of alcohol or refused to be tested for the presence of intoxicating substances in the body. In cases where the vehicle driven while intoxicated belongs to another person, the full or partial value of the vehicle is recovered from the guilty person.
The mentioned harsh penalties for drunk drivers have marked a positive trend in reducing the number of violations. State Police Chief Armands Ruks admitted in an interview on Latvian Television’s “Rīta Panorāma” program in February that, despite the fact that drivers are caught under the influence of alcohol on Latvian roads almost every day, the overall situation is improving.
The police chief explained that during the week last year, the police recorded about 70-80 violations of this type, while in the first weeks of this year, there were on average less than 50 violations per week.
Ruk, however, calls for not hastening to conclusions about the success of the new punishment system, as the norm on harsher punishments for drunk drivers came into force only relatively recently.
