Surroundings allow minors and persons without a driver’s license to get behind the wheel of a shared car / Article / LSM.lv

Surrounding people allow minors and unauthorized persons to use a shared carLinda Spundiņa00:00 / 00:00

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People increasingly prefer shared car. It is a short-term rental car, where the lessor pays only for the time it is used, without worrying about maintenance costs, fuel or parking. This service is offered by several companies.

Egija Gailuma, the head of the public transport company CityBee, says –

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases of minors and persons without a driver’s seat at the wheel.

“We started researching in more detail and catching up with friends, acquaintances, neighbors, family members who voluntarily give up their account with valid rights. Then we realized that it was starting to become perhaps not a huge problem, but if they are at least a few cases, such as two cases a month, it is already dangerous enough to start talking about. [gadījums] throughout the quarter, “explains Gailuma.

The observations may be related to the time of school start.

“We know about one specific case – there was a situation where the parents were either lazy or unwilling, or did not have time to go with the child to the training in the evening:” Well, where, take it and come home, “Gailuma continues.

Vladimir Reskājs, the head of the car-sharing company Carguru, has not seen an increase in the number of such cases in three years, but emphasizes that this is a problem that is facing.

“Yes, we see that now and then, of course, people who are not likely to be the drivers try to register, but their registration is for someone else,” says Reskājs.

Both companies are monitoring such cases and trying to prevent them. Reskājs says that in order to reduce the likelihood that a person who is banned from driving for various reasons will come to the car, the company pays attention to three points in the registration. The first – age and duration of driving. Persons under the age of 20 who have been driving for less than two years will not be approved. The second is the non-approval of new registrations from eight in the evening to eight in the morning. This reduces the likelihood that someone will decide to get behind the wheel when leaving the bar in the evening. And the third is to deny driving to people who are unlikely to be real users.

“If we have a suspicion, but we are not sure, then we do it very simply – we call the office. There have been quite comical cases when a young person comes to the office with his grandfather and mother, and instead of the grandfather or mother says that, yes, “Yes, my grandfather will use it, and he’s the person who will sign up. We can already see that it really isn’t. I think this is one of the most important problems in general, that adults don’t know what they’re doing.” tells Reskājs.

Meanwhile, CityBee allows people to use a shared car at night. The company has observed that this is indeed the time when minors use the service most often. Therefore, patrol together with the security service. If suspicious cases are observed, the drivers are stopped.

Car journalist Normunds Avotiņš points out that the service is relatively new, therefore users lack experience and conscientiousness.

“In order to discipline these irresponsible users of public transport vehicles, it would be necessary to incorporate some kind of administrative penalty. Then two or three cases would suffice, and then the desire to fulfill this will most likely pass,” Avotiņš emphasizes.

The service is in demand and the industry is evolving, so companies believe that in addition to self-regulation, improvements in the law should be considered in order to protect the public interest.

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