Less than a month ago, the show Degpunktā (TV3) reported on the trip of two residents of Valmiera to Riga airport. A fire broke out in their car a few kilometers before the capital's border, and the car burned down. Since then, the charred wreck has remained on the side of the Sigulda highway. Many drivers are wondering — could this obstruction by the roadside lead to a new incident?
On December 17, the trip of two young people to the airport with the car owner ended extremely unsuccessfully. The journey from Valmiera was interrupted on the Sigulda highway, just before the Riga border, when smoke suddenly appeared in the cabin, and soon the car turned into an oven.
"In 20 seconds, the car was completely on fire. There was no time to think. We quickly jumped out, grabbed our things, called — and here we are. (DP: Was there any smell or anything like that before?) No, it all happened suddenly. No smoke, no smell. Just suddenly — and that’s it," the Volkswagen driver recounted at the time.
Both young people were unharmed, and immediately after the fire was extinguished, they left the scene. The car remained in place.
Twenty-two days have passed since the incident, but the car has not been removed. Only half an hour before the story aired, it was towed from the highway into the adjacent access road, and the Garkalne municipal service removed the ash and debris that had accumulated under the car. Thus, the roadside has been cleared. However, the further fate of the burned wreck is still unknown.
The senior inspector of the municipal police of the Ropaži region stated in a phone conversation that in the worst case, the car would be removed by the municipality within 30 days.
"A warning letter has been sent to the owner, stating that he is obliged to move the car either to his territory or to another suitable place. He now has a legally established deadline to do this. If he does not do it, we will have the right to transfer the car for recycling. Or he can write a statement of refusal of the car, then it can be removed faster," explained the senior inspector of the Ropaži Municipal Police, Raimonds Tarvids.
In an ideal situation, the burned vehicle should have been removed from the highway on the same day. If not by the owner, then emergency services should have done it. Perhaps its location seemed acceptable to the police — at least enough not to obstruct other drivers.
"To prevent an accident, carry out rescue operations, or eliminate the consequences of an accident, the vehicle is allowed to be moved to another place where parking is permitted, by any means. I cannot comment on why the services working at the scene did not do this then," Tarvids replied.
The dangerous object has been removed from the road, and now we must wait for the owner's actions. If he does not take any action, in a month, the remains of the Volkswagen will most likely go to scrap.
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