Roundtable calls for harsh measures to prevent road deaths in Bulgaria
Sofia (The Uttam Hindu): A roundtable discussion called for tougher measures to combat serious road accidents and reduce casualties in Bulgaria. The event was organised on Monday by two Bulgarian non-governmental organisations, the "European Center for Transport Policies" and "Angels on the Road," Xinhua news agency reported.European Commission data shows that Bulgaria had the highest road accident fatality rate in the European Union last year, with 82 deaths per million population. A man, introduced simply as "Philip's father," shared his personal tragedy, recounting how his child was killed by a car last September. He identified recurring factors for high road accident fatalities such as significant speeding, alcohol or drug use, gross disregard for traffic laws, inexperienced young drivers with powerful cars, and poor road infrastructure.
Officials at the discussion noted that since August 2023, Bulgaria has implemented measures allowing the state to confiscate vehicles from drunk or drugged drivers. This policy has shown a positive preventive effect. Peter Petrov, a member of parliament (MP), cited data from the Interior Ministry, revealing that from August 2023 to August 2024, cases of drivers caught with over 1.2 per mille of alcohol dropped by 545, while cases involving drug use decreased by 901 compared to the previous year. Road fatalities during this period decreased by 64, or 11 per cent. Another MP, Kalin Stoyanov, who served as Interior Minister until August, praised the effectiveness of vehicle confiscation as a deterrent and supported stricter sanctions. Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov endorsed the confiscation policy and called for access to traffic data from mobile operators for investigative purposes in traffic accidents. He explained that the current Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code restricts such data collection to serious intentional crimes.Sarafov also advocated for supervising prosecutors to press charges for intentional crimes in cases involving drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
