Drivers in Riga increasingly violate the ban on driving on public transport lanes / Diena

As the association’s representative Laila Pastare informed the agency LETA, driving on the public transport lane has been the most frequent traffic violation in Riga for several years and it has a tendency to increase. In 2023, 6,025 such violations were detected, but this year more than 10,000 drivers were fined for driving on public transport lanes without permission.

The survey commissioned by the association revealed that more than half or 58% of drivers claim that they do not deliberately violate road traffic rules and do not drive in the public transport lane. At the same time, every third driver, or 34%, does not hide that they may have unknowingly violated the traffic rules and driven on the public transport lane, and only 2% of drivers admit that they regularly violate the mentioned traffic rules deliberately.

The survey found that a significant number of drivers who move through the streets of the capital on a daily basis are not sure of their knowledge of road traffic rules regarding public transport lanes. Every fifth driver, or 21%, admitted that it is not safe to know which road users are allowed to drive in the public transport lane, while 29% expressed that they are not sure whether they know when and how to properly change to the public transport lane in order to right turn.

The increase in fixed violations this year has been facilitated by the mobile video surveillance cameras of the Riga Municipality Police, which have been increasingly used since the fall of 2023. The fine for driving on a public transport lane is 40 euros.

In order to promote drivers’ understanding of the importance of public transport lanes in the traffic of the capital and to promote mutual respect between drivers and public transport managers, the informative campaign “Respect the public!” will take place in May. Its purpose is to explain and remind drivers why there are separate lanes for public transport traffic in Riga, and what is the purpose of these lanes, as well as to educate drivers by reminding them of road traffic rules.

The population survey was conducted by the research company “Norstat” on the order of the association “Association of Education, Culture and Innovative Projects”, surveying more than 1000 inhabitants throughout Latvia in the second half of April this year.