Midway through 2017, Bulgaria’s road death toll is 282
Halfway through 2017, the number of deaths in road accidents in Bulgaria has reached 282, according to Interior Ministry statistics on July 1.
Since January 1, there have been 2948 road accidents in Bulgaria, leaving 3649 people injured.
Bulgaria has the worst road accident fatality rate in the European Union, at 99 per million inhabitants. This is almost double the EU average.
The accident statistics for the first half of 2017 are lower than those for the first half of 2016.
Between January 1 and July 1 2016, there were 3331 road accidents in Bulgaria, leaving 301 people dead and 4131 injured.
Bulgaria’s road accident fatality rate has generally declined since 1991, when it was 129 per a million. But the decline has not been at the same rate as the EU average.
In spite of the overall decline, some years have been worse than others. While in 2001, a total of 1011 people died in accidents on Bulgaria’s roads, that figure rose to 1061 in 2008, the worst figure in the past 15 years.
In 2012 and 2013, the number of dead in each year was the same – 601. The number of road deaths in Bulgaria rose to 660 in 2014 and again to 708 in 2015.
In 2016, there were 7355 accidents on Bulgaria’s roads, leaving 703 dead and 9306 people injured.
In all, in the years from 2007 to 2016 inclusive, a total of 7674 people died in road accidents in Bulgaria.
(Photo: Mario Hains)
/Panorama
