Car makes U-turn on Ķekava bypass highway, police call it extremely dangerous

On the Ķekava bypass, a high-speed highway in the Ķekava municipality near Riga, an Indian national driving a Hyundai stopped and turned around to drive in the opposite direction. The programme "Degpunktā" reported the incident. According to the Ķekava municipal police, it created several hazardous situations, and a collision was avoided only through a fortunate coincidence.

How it began

Police received a call from another motorist. He had noticed the Hyundai travelling far too slowly and not keeping up with the traffic flow, putting itself and others at risk. The caller suspected the driver might be intoxicated, so he followed the car and told police where it was.

The caller said the Hyundai was doing about 50 km/h while the rest of the traffic went around it. He said he overtook it at about 90 km/h or slightly faster, and that the other driver then tried to ram him.

Police assessment

Māris Bomiņš, head of the Ķekava municipal police, noted that the speed limit on the highway is 110 km/h. The car turned around near a bend where visibility is relatively poor. In his words, the situation was extremely dangerous and was captured by dashcams in other vehicles. Bomiņš suggested the driver may have tried to use driving habits from his home country in Latvia.

The driver's account

When the car was stopped, the driver turned out to be an Indian national. He said the other motorist had tried to chase him, then got out of his car and showed off his physique. The Indian national said he asked petrol station employees who the man was, and they replied that he was a police officer. He also demanded the man's documents and driving licence.

The source does not say whether any penalties were imposed on the driver.