Bulgaria’s Parliament approves amendments to Road Traffic Act

Bulgaria’s Parliament approved on July 23 the second and final reading of several amendments to the Road Traffic Act, in a resumption of voting that began on July 16 until that day’s sitting lost its quorum.

The July 16 and 23 votes took up several hours of voting at second reading of an omnibus bill hashed together from several bills, some covering the same ground and some contradicting each other, that MPs had earlier approved wholesale at first reading.

In the July 16 vote, Parliament rejected a proposal to reduce the speed limit on motorways from 140km/h to 130km/h.

MPs approved an amendment that motorists may be penalised on the basis of a calculation of their average speed over a specific road section.

Toll cameras are being brought into use for these calcuations.

Parliament approved a provision that municipal and toll system cameras will now be able to identify motorists breaking the speed limit.

The amendments approved on July 16 provide that electric scooters – which a number of companies provide for hire in Bulgaria’s major cities but also there are numerous in private ownership – may not be used at night.

Users of electronic scooters must use bicycle lanes, and where there are no bicycle lanes, must travel as close as possible to the right-hand-side of the road.

Riders of electric scooters must wear safety helmets and the speed limit for electric scooters is set at 25km/h. At a pedestrian crossing, riders must dismount from the scooter and cross on foot.

There may be no more than one person on an electric scooter and riders are banned from using a mobile phone while riding.

Parking of electric scooters in parks, gardens, squares, playgrounds, green areas, pavements, at entrances to metro underground railways stations or buildings, public transport stops, crossings, or in front of ramps for people with disabilities, except in designated spaces, is forbidden.

The age for using an electric scooter is increased from 14 to 16.

The July 23 vote resulted in a provision that the driver of an individual electric vehicle is required to have valid motorists’ civil liability insurance under Article 461, item 1 of the Insurance Code. This was voted, in spite of it not being immediately clear how many teenagers have such insurance. The fine for a first offence is 250 leva, and second and further offences mean a fine of 800 leva.

Numerous of these provisions have been dismissed by the industry and the public as impractical and unenforceable. The amendments were tabled against a background of several incidents – including fatalities – involving electric scooters, including by those who were speeding, not wearing safety helmets, were intoxicated or all three. Before Parliament got underway with the amendments, a number of municipalities in Bulgaria have banned the use of electric scooters altogether, or placed their own local limits on them.

The amendments approved on July 23 provide that the Interior Ministry may use unmarked cars against motorists undertaking dangerous driving. Officials using unmarked cars must use flashing blue lights and orders in Bulgarian and English to tell the offending motorist to stop and pull over.

The amendments provide that the State Agency for Road Safety must compile and submit to the National Assembly every six months a report on the state of road safety in Bulgaria.

Separately from the proceedings in the National Assembly, on July 17 Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court upheld 2023 amendments to the Criminal Code providing for the confiscation of vehicles driven by individuals who were drink-driving or at the wheel having consumed illegal narcotics.

The court held that the amendments came against a background of increased public sensitivity about road fatalities, and the amendments were in line with practicies in other European Union member states and other states where the rule of law prevails.

The Constitutional Court upheld the provision that a motorist that is not the owner of the vehicle may be fined to the extent of the monetary equivalent of the value of the vehicle. The court said that this ensures the constitutional principle of equality before the law.

Without this provision, individuals committing the same crime would be treated differently based on whether or not they were the owners of the vehicle, the court said.

(Photo: Leah Sawyer)