Seat belt

55% of the drivers in Bulgaria operate motor vehicles at an excessive speed in populated areas. This is one of the conclusions of the completed two-year Baseline project, on which the State Agency "Road Traffic Safety" is working together with 18 EU countries.

With the new changes in the traffic regulation entered into force as of Aug. 16, it has become mandatory for minibuses, buses and taxis to have a three-point seat belt for children, while motorcycle, e-scooter and bicycle riders are required to wear reflective vests at night.

Greece's Traffic Police recorded nearly half a million violations in 2019, with speeding being the top infraction, and while the number of accidents rose, fatalities dipped, data have shown.

Twenty people were killed and 566 were injured in a total of 503 road accidents recorded in the last month of 2019 in the region of Attica alone, data released by region's traffic police showed Friday.

Of those hurt, 15 were seriously injured, while the remaining 551 suffered lighter injuries.

Checks conducted by 933 traffic police crews around Greece last week found that one in 10 drivers were not wearing a seat belt.

Specifically, of the 15,073 drivers checked from November 4 to 10, 1,502 were fined for not wearing a seat belt.

From mid-2022, all new cars placed on the EU market will need to be equipped with advanced safety systems. Following the agreement reached in March with the European Parliament, the EU Council representing the Member States has adopted a regulation on the general safety of motor vehicles and the protection of passengers and vulnerable road users.

Following the tragedy near Svoge, parliament obliged all buses to be fitted with belts.

"The penalties for non-compliance are big. If the passenger rides without a seat belt, the bus driver will have to pay a fine of BGN 1,500 and the carrier company - BGN 3,000, " Petar Zahariev, of the National Association of Bus Carriers, said for NOVA TV.

The Ministry of Interior says that in the course of the last weekend, nine people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Serbia, while 100 people were injured.

The police teams will be located on sections with increased traffic, reported NOVA TV. 

Specialized Operation of Traffic Police starts all over the country, informs the Ministry of Interior. Control of speed, driver's license, use of safety belts and child safety systems will be strengthened.

Croatia-based Index website is reporting that the deadly accident happened in eastern Croatia, on the A3 highway, and that the victims traveled in the direction of Zagreb in a Skoda Octavia passenger car with Slovenian license plates.