Sofia, Dec 10 (IANS) 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.
–IANS
int/rs
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
