Sofia traffic police hails success of ‘Operation Cyclist’, vows to continue checks
Traffic police in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia said on June 19 that 28 fines were issued during “Operation Cyclist” on June 10-17 and vowed that checks would continue for the rest of the summer.
The traffic police checked 103 cyclists – looking into the condition of bicycles, whether bikes are fitted with reflectors and whether cyclists are complying with the rules of the road.
The fines were mostly for failing to observe traffic rules (19 cases) and using bicycles with “technical defects” (nine cases), the Interior Ministry said in a statement. One cyclist was fined for running a red light.
“The results show the usefulness of preventive actions, which will continue for the entire summer period,” the statement said.
In an earlier statement announcing the start of the campaign, the ministry said that there had been 26 road accidents in Sofia involving cyclists since the beginning of 2013, with 19 injured. In 12 of the cases, the accidents were the fault of the cyclists, the ministry said.
(Photo: Michal Zacharzewski/sxc.hu)
