Bulgaria’s road death toll in first five months of 2019 was 180 – Interior Ministry
A total of 180 people died in road accidents in Bulgaria between January 1 and midnight on May 31 2019, the Interior Ministry said, citing provisional statistics.
The figure is 13 fewer than in the first five months of 2018.
In the 2254 road accidents in Bulgaria since the start of 2019, a total of 2845 people were injured.
In May 2019 alone, there were 513 accidents, leaving 39 people dead and 648 injured.
According to official European Union statistics, Bulgaria had the second-highest road accident fatality rate in the EU in 2018.
With the approach of the summer holiday season and expected heavier traffic on motorways and major roads linking inland cities and Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, authorities have announced restrictions on the movement of vehicles of more than 12 tons, to ease the flow of traffic and to try to reduce accidents.
The restrictions apply from June 1 to September 2019, to Fridays and Sundays.
On Trakiya Motorway, the restrictions apply on Fridays from 6pm to 8pm in the direction from Sofia to Plovdiv, and on Sundays from 4pm to 8pm in the direction from Bourgas to Sofia.
On Struma Motorway, the restrictions apply on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm between Daskalovo and the Kulata border checkpoint.
On Maritsa Motorway, the restrictions apply on Sundays from 4pm to 8pm from Svilengrad towards Trakiya Motorway.
The restrictions do not apply to vehicles carrying dangerous goods, live animals, perishable goods and refrigerated vehicles, the Interior Ministry said.
(Photo: Jennifer Shihab/freeimages.com)
