EU – Baltic States, Lithuania, Society, Statistics

Earlier the lowest number of fatalities on roads was registered in 2012, when 177 people died in road accidents in Latvia.

The number of people who sustained injuries in road accidents increased 12.28% from 2015 to 15,771 people. The number of road accidents also rose – by 10.14 percent to 19,544 accidents.

The majority of people who died in road accidents were car drivers, and about one third of them were pedestrians.

As the police started to install speed cameras on roads more actively, the number of deaths on roads in the Riga region dropped by about 30%. It means that the average speed is reduced and consequences from road accidents are less severe, Krapsis said.

In 2015, 28 drivers were detained after having caused severe road accidents under the influence of alcohol, while in 2016 the number of such drivers has dropped to 18.

Krapsis said that the earlier goal to reduce the number of deaths on roads by 50% by 2020 compared to 2010 has become realistic. In 2010 there were 218 fatalities in road accidents in Latvia.