Road Traffic Safety in Latvia

The article discusses development trends in road traffic safety indicators in Latvia. Changes in society and vehicle fleet after the regain of independence created new situation on the roads. More dynamic vehicle fleet allowed achieving higher average speed of the traffic flow. Reduction in the service level of public transport resulted in much higher use of cars which in turn led to increased traffic flow density. Currently the use of cars in Latvia and in particular in the rural areas has become an integral part of everyday life. It is obvious, that road traffic safety improvement is a complex and complicated task. Despite some achievements during past years, general road traffic safety situation in comparison to other EU countries has still relatively big improvement potential. The article is thus aimed at showing the influence of automobilization increase on road traffic safety level and discussing the reasons for improving road traffic safety level.