Latvian Ministry of Transport has prepared proposals to make it easier for owners to temporarily cease vehicle registration in accordance with the adopted amendments to the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law, as reported by the ministry’s representatives.
The ministry’s proposals will be reviewed by the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee on Tuesday, the 3rd of December.
In accordance with the European Union directive, the Saeima adopted proposals directed by the Ministry of Finance for amendments to the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law, which provides for Motor Third Party Liability (MTPL) insurance for all vehicles that are registered, including those that participate in traffic seasonally.
The Ministry of Transport notes that the purpose of amendments is protecting victims in cases when accidents were caused by vehicles without drivers involved.
The ministry adds that the proposed amendments to existing regulations will make it possible to suspend the registration of a vehicle electronically without transferring the vehicle’s number plates to the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (Road Traffic Safety Directorate). This will give vehicle owners the option to simply stop registering the vehicle for a period of time when it is not in use.
This provides the vehicle owner the option to simply suspend his or her vehicle’s registration for the period of time when it is not in use.
As previously reported, the Saeima’s Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee will begin reviewing amendments to the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law prepared by the opposition on Tuesday that are intended to correct the previously passed norm that makes the purchase of MTPL for all registered vehicles mandatory.
Amendments to the law were prepared by Saeima deputies Edmunds Zivtiņš, Edgars Tavars, Ramona Petraviča, Jānis Vitenbergs, Kristaps Krištopans, Didzis Šmits, Linda Liepiņa, Viktorija Pleškāne and Ilze Stobova.
Similar amendments were also prepared by “For Stability!” party. However, the Union of Greens and Farmers concluded that the draft has problems and needs to be fixed.
Previously, the proposed amendments received support from both the coalition and opposition in the Saeima.
Multiple opposition deputies later wrote on social media, after public outrage, that they didn’t understand or even know what they were voting for. For example, Andris Kulbergs apologized on X (formerly Twitter) for “missing the point”, shifting the blame on the Saeima’s Budget Committee even though he is not a member there. However, the proposals submitted to the law amendments show that he had submitted proposals for corrections in it. “Had I known that, I never would have voted for them,” Kulbergs claimed. Saeima deputy Didzis Šmits, too, apologized for voting for something he did not fully understand.
The ruling coalition previously told LETA that the issue regarding the aforementioned requirement for MTPL to be purchased by all vehicle owners regardless of whether or not their owned vehicles are in active use will need to be re-reviewed.
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