There is a map of black spots – maybe a road sign?

The statistics are not encouraging – Latvia is the third country in the European Union in terms of road fatalities in 2023 [1]. When analysing accidents, it is clear that there are places where serious road accidents happen again and again – these dangerous places are commonly referred to as “black spots”. There are countries in Europe where motorists are warned about such places by special road signs. In Latvia, too, such spots are listed. There is even a map of black spots, but information on accidents is not updated quickly enough. According to Daina Kantāne, Head of AVIS Full Service Leasing: “If a proper road sign was introduced, it would improve road safety as a preventive measure and would also inform both tourists travelling by car and local motorists who may not be as familiar with a particular stretch of road.” The more carefully we drive, the fewer accidents there will be In many countries, the “Black Spot” road sign serves as a warning, calling attention to a particularly dangerous spot on a particular stretch of road. Drivers are thus encouraged to pay maximum attention to the road. Each country has different criteria for determining “black spots”. For example, in our neighbouring country Lithuania, a half-kilometre stretch of road where there have been at least four road accidents with injuries or fatalities in the last four years is a “black spot”. Studies show that the recognition and detection of such black spots is of great importance for the prevention of road accidents [2]. In Lithuania, 42 black spots have been identified on national roads in 2022, with a further 121 identified on minor roads [3]. Black spots on Latvian roads are also collected, and the data is recorded by the Latvian State Roads. The latest available data and the map of black spots cover the period 2020-2022 [4], so we can assume that some dangerous places are not included in this inventory at all. But the statistics on road accidents are still tragic: in 2023, 142 people died in road accidents in Latvia, and by 14 March this year, 12 people had already lost their lives in road accidents [5]. Latvia still ranks a high third among the other European Union countries where the number of road accident fatalities is collected. The figure is 76 deaths per million inhabitants. Latvia is the country with the third worst rate, only Romania and Bulgaria are ahead of us [6]. These tragic statistics show that we must urgently seize every opportunity to reduce the number of serious road accidents. One possible solution would be to warn drivers accurately and in good time when approaching a stretch of road where accidents tend to be particularly frequent. This could be done not only by a map of black spots, but also by a special black spot road sign. How much information is available? Local residents who regularly travel along a particular stretch of road are well aware of its features and also of the most dangerous spots, but hardly anyone has the entire map of black spots in their memory… And those who have entered Latvia from other countries or who travel outside their usual route may be unaware of places where accidents are particularly frequent. For this reason, a number of countries use the “black dot” sign to encourage motorists to pay attention to a particular stretch of road in good time. Daina Kantāne, Head of AVIS Full Service Leasing Department, believes that a “black dot” road sign is definitely needed in Latvia. Our country is a popular tourist destination and locals often take the opportunity to travel around Latvia by car. A road sign indicating that there is a “black spot” nearby would certainly help to avoid getting into an accident – accidents in Latvia are not the best way to promote our country. Information on car accidents as well as a regularly updated and widely available map of “black spots” is very important to encourage more careful driving on dangerous sections. In the case of Latvia, a “black spot” is defined as a place where: at least three road accidents with victims have occurred in the last three years; at least eight road accidents outside urban areas; at least 10 road accidents in urban areas. Most “black spots” are concentrated around Riga, as shown by the road accident statistics: in 2022, the majority of road accidents took place in Pier Riga and Riga, with 2 136 and 3 381 accidents respectively. What is your driving culture? It is clear that a road sign or a map of “black spots” alone will not solve all problems – there are cases where the road infrastructure, the placement and visibility of signs, the organisation of traffic all play a role. But motorists should definitely think about their driving culture. As a full-service leasing and car rental company, AVIS is directly confronted with both driving culture and accident statistics. AVIS data shows that there are indeed certain places where accidents are particularly frequent. In Riga, this is the case of the very busy roundabouts Mukusala Circle and Slava Rotary Circle. Dangerous situations are caused by aggressive manoeuvring, ignorance of traffic rules and fearful or unsafe driving, while outside the capital the most serious accidents are caused by recklessness and overtaking manoeuvres in poor visibility. Drive safe with AVIS AVIS is a full-service leasing and car rental company – which means that road safety is of paramount importance to us. To keep you safe on the road, we offer both third party and third party insurance to cover the damages caused by an accident (unless the car rental company is the one who caused the accident). Drive safely: obey the rules and the speed limit, avoid aggressive manoeuvres. The “black spots” map will help you to know where to drive extra carefully. We hope, however, that Latvia will introduce a proper road sign in the foreseeable future so that we can all feel a little safer on the road. [1] https://europa.eu/newsroom/ecpc-failover/pdf/ip-24-1361_lv.pdf [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095756422000575 [3] https://tka.lt/en/2023/01/17/parengtas-nacionalinis-2022-m-lietuvos-juoduju-demiu-zemelapis/ [4] https://lvceli.lv/celu-tikls/celu-kartes/melnie-punkti/2020-2022/ [5] https://www.csdd.lv/celu-satiksmes-negadijumi/ikmenesa-dati [6] https://europa.eu/newsroom/ecpc-failover/pdf/ip-24-1361_lv.pdf