On the streets of Riga, a 16-year-old teenager decided to demonstrate controlled drifting skills while driving a BMW belonging to his parents. However, the 'training run' ended in failure — the car veered onto the sidewalk and crashed into a courier's vehicle parked at a local bakery. The young man faces several administrative protocols, but according to the bakery owner, the responsibility should also lie with his parents, as reported by the Degpunktā program (TV3).
The surveillance camera footage at the bakery on Brivibas Street shows a courier making a regular delivery: he enters the store with a basket in hand, leaving his vehicle on the sidewalk. At that moment, a BMW approaches from the direction of St. Gertrude's Church, which begins to skid on the asphalt — the driver loses control.
After the impact, the courier ran outside and began to clarify the circumstances with the driver while simultaneously calling the owner of the establishment, Victoria. The woman arrived at the scene urgently and is grateful to fate that no one was injured.
"Customers are coming in, it's Saturday, people are walking around, and of course, my courier. He was delayed here literally for a second — he needed to open the door," Victoria recounts.
A couple of minutes — and the consequences could have been fatal. After the collision, the young people got out of the car. According to Victoria, it seemed that they didn't even realize what their antics could have led to.
"Maybe it was bravado. They are young, it's hard to say, perhaps they lost control — anything can happen," she speculates.
Initially, the passengers probably tried to flee, scratching their heads, but then stayed at the scene — possibly realizing that the blame was not solely on the driver. Soon, the State Police arrived. In a conversation with the young man, it turned out that he had no driver's license and had not yet reached 18 years of age. The car belongs to his parents, who soon also arrived at the bakery. The reaction of the adults surprised Victoria:
"It seems that all his relatives gathered — an uncle, someone else came, but no one said: 'Sorry for what happened!' The young man turned 16 on December 1. This year. And, in my opinion, the responsibility lies with the parents."
However, the parents will not be fined — by law, the young man has reached the age at which he can bear administrative responsibility and pay fines himself.
"For driving without a license, the teenager can be fined from 280 to 570 euros. For creating an emergency situation when leaving the roadway — a fine from 25 to 140 euros," explained State Police representative Lina Bagdone.
The police will also continue to assess the possibility of imposing a fine for aggressive driving, as witnesses allegedly saw the same BMW performing similar skids on other streets in Riga before the accident.
Meanwhile, Victoria has to restore the damaged Lexus and the facade of the building at the entrance. According to her, these are minor issues: "Replacing the tiles is morally easier than wiping blood off the sidewalk." She believes that the parents should have a serious talk with their son.
"If this incident became a lesson for parents who give their children cars without licenses, and they understood what terrible consequences this can lead to, perhaps we would have less of this nightmare," Victoria concludes.
