Driving under the influence

The amendments to the Road Traffic Act which provide for new harsher penalties will enter in force on Saturday.

The fines for speeding in a residential area are as follows: when speeding at between 31km/h and 40 km/h the fine is BGN 400, for speeding over 40 km/h, the fine is BGN 600 and for speeding over 50 km/h - BGN 700.

More than 10,000 traffic violations have been sanctioned during the holidays, mostly speeding, driving under the influence, and failure to wear a seat belt.

This is according to Aleksandar Radenkovic of the Traffic Police, who added that approximately 500 drunk drivers were discovered over this period and excluded from traffic.

Drivers who have had their license plates confiscated by police for minor offenses can reclaim them as of Monday, authorities said.

The decision was made to facilitate circulation during the holidays.

The rule does not apply to drivers who have committed serious offenses, such as driving under the influence, speeding, running a red light or driving an uninsured vehicle.

Traffic police will remove the license plates of cars of drivers caught drunk, on drugs, without a driving license or if they refuse to give a breath sample.

The purpose of this measure is to prevent drivers from using the vehicle again.

The strict sanctions were adopted at second reading by the parliamentary Transport Commission.

Turkish news channel NTV ran a story on Oct. 7. The story, read by a speaker on the radio, sounded quite cohesive, logical and consistent in a country where such news narratives are extremely rare.

A total of 984 drunk drivers have been caught in Sofia since the beginning of the year, reported the Interior Ministry.

Over 1,700 drivers have driven cars without a licence.

Two Albanian nationals, a 34-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, faced a prosecutor on Kos on Friday after a car being driven by the former hit two people on the island the day before. The 28-year-old had been a passenger in the car.

The pair, who fled the scene, face charges of causing a road accident, causing bodily harm and violating the highway code.

Roadside tests have shown the presence of narcotic drugs in the bodies of 63% of car drivers tested by Sofia Traffic Police in 2016, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday.Twenty-six out of 41 car drivers stopped for testing in the area of Sofia have tested positive for the presence of narcotic or intoxicating substances in their systems, the ministry said in a statement.Other regio

Bulgarian traffic police have intercepted 158 car drivers sitting behind the wheel after having drunk alcohol in just two days, BGNES reported on Tuesday,

A total of 6,325 motorists were tested for drunk driving in a nationwide police operation carried out between 31 July and 2 August, at the peak of summer holidays.

An employee of the Council of Ministers was fired Tuesday. The reason was the fact that he hit a taxi while he was drunk driving and even said to people that he is sure he will get away with it.

A picture of the employee quickly became viral on social media and gathered a number of negative comments.