Lawmaker seeks to limit emergency lights on leaders vehicles

Lawmember Mindaugas Lingė has proposed changing the law so that vehicles transporting and protecting the country’s highest-ranking leaders would use emergency lights only when necessary to ensure their safety, LRT reported Monday.

Lingė said the proposal was prompted by a video circulated last week showing President Gitanas Nausėda’s convoy driving with its emergency lights on through a congested section of a motorway under repair. Some drivers were forced to move onto the roadside.

“This is probably not an isolated case. Vilnius residents face this reality every morning and evening,” Lingė told LRT Radio.

He said similar situations had occurred before, when senior officials used emergency lights while travelling through the city even though there was no need to ensure their safety. He argued that residents should not be forced to give way unless this was necessary for safety, as in the case of medical, police or other services protecting lives.

Lingė said emergency lights were justified when a threat to an official’s safety increased. In ordinary traffic conditions, however, he said Lithuania could adopt a different road-use culture.

Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas, commenting on the proposal, said emergency lights were used rarely when he was being transported. He said they were generally activated when there was not enough time to attend several events or meetings, and during visits by high-ranking foreign guests.

Olekas added that this did not involve travelling to or from work.