For 50 kilometers along the Hemus Motorway, there are more than 30 places with deformed or missing guardrails. This was established by the inspection of bTV Novinite.
„How long does it take to fly from Vitinya“ - with these words the truck driver describes the hole in the guardrail on one of the most dangerous bends on the highway.
Ivaylo Yordanov often passes along this route.
„The joints on all the bridges are terrible, there are some settlements. I don't know about the guardrails there, it's a long topic. Here it's like Russian roulette - if you survive, you survive," he says.
Exactly a month ago, after the "Vitinya" tunnel, there was an accident - a heavy truck swept over the guardrails, making a huge hole. On the other side, there is also another one, which leads to the abyss.
From an RIA document, it is clear that the DZZD "Safety West" association is committed to this section of "Hemus".
In front of bTV, the executive director of one of the companies said that there is no active contract.
“According to the law on public procurement, a contract whose term has expired cannot be annexed. Currently, there is not a single active contract in the entire country“, said Eng. Georgi Zlatev, executive director of “KMV - road safety systems“.
Zlatev is the former head of the road infrastructure maintenance department at the RIA from 2011 to 2017.
To check whether driving is safe, we get in the car together with auto expert Damyan Voinovski. Not long after, we come across torn off guardrails.
“There are sections where the guardrails have given way or are crushed, but they continue to stand, but this is dangerous. If another accident occurs at the same place, this guardrail will no longer fulfill its purpose, and this is not from yesterday or the day before yesterday“, said Voinovski.
On the newly renovated section of the “Hemus“ motorway, the asphalt is new, but the guardrails are not.
“Some of them look old to me. Unfortunately, there are sections where there have clearly been impacts, but they have not been replaced. These guardrails should have the so-called eyes or reflectors, but in many places they are heavily polluted. They are not cleaned, and in some places they are missing“, explained Damian Voinovski.
The Road Agency still did not answer today whether there is a company engaged in the maintenance of the safety equipment.