On Benjamins Street in Riga, a 21-year-old BMW driver lost control on a wet road, crashed into a kiosk, and struck a woman at a bus stop. The young man was driving with what is known as a white license and admitted that the cause of the accident was a lack of experience.
A serious accident occurred shortly before noon on Benjamins Street in Riga. A BMW car veered off the road, crashed into a kiosk, and injured a woman who was at a public transport stop.
After the collision, the wall of the kiosk was destroyed, and the car itself sustained significant damage.
The driver was a 21-year-old with what is known as a white license — in Latvia, this refers to a learner's driving permit.
The young man admitted that he lost control of the vehicle.
"The car skidded, let's say, due to my lack of experience. I couldn't handle the steering and crashed into the kiosk," the driver told the show Degpunktā (TV3).
According to him, the cause was the wet asphalt.
"The car is light, and it skidded," he explained, adding that the speed was allegedly around 45–50 km/h.
At the time of the accident, there were two other people in the car. The female passenger in the BMW admitted that at one point she expected the worst.
"At first, it seemed that everything would be very bad. It could have been much worse, but thank God, it turned out fine," the girl said.
After the impact, a woman standing by the road was injured. She was handed over to medical personnel.
Felix Zieds, a representative of the State Police, stated that the circumstances of the accident are still being clarified, and additional information may be provided by surveillance camera footage.
At the same time, the driver was sober, and formally the legal requirements were met: there was a person in the car with the necessary driving experience who is allowed to accompany a novice driver.
However, it is this accompanying person who, according to the rules, bears responsibility in the event of an accident if the driver has a white license.
The accident once again drew attention to the risks associated with the lack of experience among young drivers, especially in challenging weather conditions. Even at relatively low speeds, losing control on a wet road can lead to severe consequences in an urban environment.
The incident on Benjamins Street demonstrates how quickly an ordinary driving lesson can turn into a dangerous accident.
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