94-Year-Old Driver's Prison Sentence Takes Effect for Fatal Accident in Riga

The Supreme Court of Latvia has declined to hear a cassation appeal, thereby upholding a two-year prison sentence for a 94-year-old driver convicted in connection with a fatal traffic accident in December 2023. The accident occurred on Jelgavas Street in the Torņakalns neighbourhood of Riga, where the driver, then aged 91, hit a girl born in 2007 on an unmarked pedestrian crossing, causing fatal injuries. Another young person was also struck, and a public bench was damaged.

The court found that the cassation appeal raised factual rather than legal issues, and therefore refused to review the case. Initially, the Riga City Court had sentenced the man to three years and six months in prison along with a five-year driving ban. However, upon appeal, the Latgale Regional Court identified an additional mitigating factor—the defendant's admission of guilt and remorse—and reduced the sentence to two years' imprisonment while maintaining the five-year driving suspension.

The court determined that the driver violated traffic regulations by failing to reduce speed or stop before the pedestrian crossing and not yielding to the girl, who had the right of way. At the time of the accident, the driver was sober and possessed a valid medical certificate for driving.