Rīga Municipal Police (RPP) explained to 4. studija that a penalty may be imposed not only on the companies responsible for cleaning the streets but also on the owner of a car around which a snowdrift has accumulated.
"In fact, snow from the car itself doesn't necessarily need to be cleared, but you need to clean around the car. That rule is created precisely because those snowplows cannot physically clean around the car at all, and then the owner of the vehicle who is using the parking space must clean the car themselves so that there is order and when the car leaves there is not a car-shaped imprint but a normal clearing where someone can park,” said RPP representative Toms Sadovskis.
The statutory penalty for uncleaned snow around a vehicle can be as high as €350, but a warning can also apply.
The penalty can be imposed by police if the snow has not been cleared for at least 3 days.
“In this case, the police receive a call, record the situation, record that the car is standing there [..] and then three days later police officers check the place again and then are already looking at whether the car has been moved or not, or has been stationary for three days, and if so, an administrative infringement process may already be initiated,” the RPP spokesperson explained.
This season, no car owner has yet been penalized for such an offense.
“Three days later, this Administrative violation process may be initiated and then already as part of the process, it is likely that [the owner] will be asked to explain why and what the situation was, because for example, if a person has been ill, or was abroad, or whatever, then it would be absurd not to take such facts into account,” Sadovskis said.
