Bulgarian Traffic Police launch week-long operation to reduce pedestrian deaths
Bulgarian Traffic Police started a week-long campaign on January 24 to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths.
The campaign is a response to pedestrians being involved in two serious road accidents in just 24 hours.
According to Traffic Police data, 149 pedestrians died in road accidents in Bulgaria in 2019. The most common cause was motorists not stopping at pedestrian crossings.
Bulgarian National Television quoted the Traffic Police’s Petar Sokolov as saying that the campaign would focus on two aspects, the behaviour of motorists and the behaviour of pedestrians.
Traffic police data show that accidents involving pedestrians most often occur in the autumn and winter months between the hours of 5pm and 7pm.
Pedestrians over the age of 65 turn out to be the most vulnerable on the road, but the death toll among people of working age is also rising. The reason for this is distraction, often from a mobile phone.
The most common places for fatal accidents involving pedestrians are bus stops and pedestrian crossings. Among the most common mistakes are suddenly stepping into the road and crossing the road when the traffic light is red for pedestrians.
