The country in question is Lithuania, where at the beginning of the year the law was changed so that cars owned by the state can be donated to the Ukrainian government in order to support the war-torn country.
In Lithuania, they are diligent when it comes to confiscating cars from those who drive drunk or under the influence of drugs, and they have confiscated significantly more cars than expected.
As early as mid-March 2023, the police had seized over 200 cars, and the idea was then to send these to the war-torn Ukraine.
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Donated cars worth 10 million
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The transport of the cars is provided by the Latvian charity Twitter Convoy, and according to the Latvian newspaper Delphi has currently managed to send as many as 271 cars previously owned by drunk drivers to Ukraine.
The total value of the cars that have been donated so far is estimated at 903,453 euros, corresponding to just over 10 million kroner.
At the time of writing, they are working on the paperwork to send another 34 cars, with an estimated value of just under SEK 1.8 million, to Ukraine.
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Not alone in confiscating cars
Latvia is currently quite alone in sending cars seized in connection with traffic offenses to Ukraine.
However, Latvia is not the only country where anyone who engages in more serious traffic offenses risks losing their car for good.
For example, if you are caught for carelessness in traffic in Denmark, the police can seize and auction your car – something a Norwegian Lamborghini owner found out in 2021.
The man was on his way home from Germany, where he bought his sports car two hours earlier, and was stopped in Denmark after driving 236 km/h on a 130-lane road.
The result was that the car, which the man had just paid around SEK 2 million for, was confiscated and sold at auction. The money went to the Danish treasury.
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