This year on Ligo and Janis Day, the State Police detained more drunk drivers than in the previous two years, reported the head of the Response Division of the State Police, Juris Jančevskis, on the Latvian television program "Morning Panorama."
This year, during the two official holiday days, the police on the roads of Latvia detained 39 drivers under the influence of alcohol. Last year, during the two holiday days, only 23 drunk drivers were detained, and in 2024, there were 36, according to the archive of the LETA agency.
As reported by Jančevskis, this year, during the five holiday weekends, the police on the roads of Latvia detained 81 drivers under the influence of alcohol, including in 53 cases, criminal proceedings were initiated, which mainly means that the drivers were heavily intoxicated.
Directly on Ligo and Janis Day this year, 39 drunk drivers were detained, including in 25 cases, criminal proceedings were initiated. On Ligo Day, 20 intoxicated drivers were caught, and on Janis Day, 19.
Commenting on these trends, Jančevskis stated that the most violations were recorded in the Riga region and Zemgale, and the typical driver under the influence of alcohol is invariably a man aged 30-50 years.
A police representative suggested that this year's statistics were worsened by both the greater number of holidays and good weather, as well as a large number of public events, which meant that people moved more from one event to another.
The intensified control of drivers on the roads will continue on Thursday when most people return to work.
