The vehicles involved in the pile-ups on the Trakia motorway were evidently traveling at around 100 km/h despite the dense fog and severely limited visibility. This was stated by Gen. Rumen Milanov of “Progressive Bulgaria” on the television program “In Focus.” Milanov is a former road safety auditor.
According to him, visibility in some places was barely 10–15 meters, which rules out driving safely at such a speed.
“The main problem is the behavior of drivers in fog. I listened to a man who had been driving a tanker truck; he said the fog had reduced visibility to 10–15 meters. But in dense fog, you cannot drive at a speed of around 100 km/h. These impacts occurred at approximately that speed,” Milanov said.According to him, what is worrying is that this does not concern only individual vehicles, but the entire flow of traffic. He believes that the drivers failed to adjust their speed to the weather conditions and limited visibility.
Milanov proposed preparing an analysis of the drivers involved in the accident. In his view, it should examine the drivers’ experience and training.
“If I were the head of the Traffic Police, I would now try to conduct an analysis of the drivers who were involved in this road traffic accident. How much experience do they have? Where did they train?” he commented.The former auditor stressed that responsibility should not be placed solely on the state. According to him, driver behavior should also be part of the analysis of the causes of the serious collisions.
Milanov also commented on the need to build intelligent transport systems, which, he said, have been discussed for a long time. His statement represents an assessment of the likely speed and behavior of the drivers, rather than an official conclusion of the investigation into the causes of the crashes.
Sources: nova.bg