Road safety

Bulgaria and Romania have the worst road casualty rates of any EU nations, with data for 2016 revealing the extent of the problem. In 2016 Bulgaria saw 999 fatalities/1,000,000 of population while Romania saw 97 road deaths/1,000,000 of population, reports worldhighways.com

Approximately 700 snow removal vehicles were out clearing the roads last night. All national roads are passable in winter conditions. Around 8:30 am, restrictions on the movement of heavy goods vehicles over 12 tonnes with trailers and semi-trailers across the Preval pass were lifted, said the press office of the Road Infrastructure Agency, reports Focus News Agency. 

The speed limit on highways, which is currently 120 kilometers per hour, will increase to 125 km/h, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Nov. 18.

Greek police recorded 122 traffic code violations in 511 school buses during checks ahead of the start of the new school year, according to a press release on Tuesday.

Drivers in Greece aged 74 years old and above will have to renew their licenses to prove that they still have the knowledge and reflexes to drive safely.

Twenty people were killed and 425 were injured in 363 road accidents in Attica alone last month, according to the official data from the region's traffic police. 

Of those injured, 13 suffered serious trauma, while the rest were hurt lightly.

Sofia. Legislative changes to regulate new obligations are needed in order to improve safety on the roads, traffic safety expert Aleksi Stratiev told Focus Radio. In his words, experts will need time to analyse the legislation related to traffic safety, as each law comprises dozens of regulations.

Sofia. Legislative texts on safety belts have been drafted and will be sent to the Parliament in September, Automobile Administration Agency Director Boyko Ranovski told Nova TV this morning. "The belt issue is very important, brought up after each serious accident, and there is no room for retreat anymore, the law must be changed," he said.

A 55-year-old cyclist died after he was hit by a car in northern Greece.

The driver of the car reportedly left the scene and the injured cyclist on the road.

The cyclist died an hour later. Police subsequently found the 38-year-old driver in a field.

He was arrested and will be taken before a prosecutor.

Sofia. We detected 28,603 speeding violations and took away 82 driving licences for unpaid fines, said Chief Inspector Rosen Rapchev, Head of Traffic Control Division at the National Police Chief Directorate, Focus News Agency reports.