The Sofia District Prosecutor's Office is taking action after a BNT report about midnight races and drifts in Sofia.
Its spokesman Nikolay Nikolaev announced that they are starting an investigation into the YouTuber who the television showed in a report that he was participating in unregulated races and publishing the videos on the Internet.
And the traffic management center in the capital is planning to equip the boulevards, which most often turn into tracks for illegal races, with speed cameras.
We received the signal about dangerous driving videos on the Internet from one of our viewers. After the report was broadcast on August 20, they disappeared from the YouTuber's channel. "Traffic Police" An investigation has begun. The prosecutor's office will also work on the case.
"BNT: Do you see hooliganism and can this YouTuber be held criminally liable?
What I see to some extent leads me to think that it can be considered a crime under Article 325, paragraph 2", said Nikolay Nikolaev, spokesman for the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office.
The penalty for hooliganism, which is distinguished by extreme cynicism or audacity, is up to 5 years in prison.
Nearly 800 cameras monitor traffic in Sofia around the clock. The signal from them is also monitored by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Around 360 devices recognize the license plates of cars. Some of them monitor cars in bus lanes. Since the beginning of the year, 499 tickets have been issued. At the moment, none of the municipality's cameras are used for speed control.
"Since there are no technical means to measure speed, at the moment I don't think a sanction can be imposed", commented Dimitar Petrov, Director of 'Traffic Management and Analysis", Sofia Municipality.
"Many times we have filed reports, based on which people have been fined, pre-trial proceedings have been initiated and then sanctions have been imposed on these people. Including the court confirming them. I firmly believe that the cameras can still be used for inspections, to identify violators and for a faster response", said Diana Rusinova, European Center for Transport Policies.
In September, changes to the Road Traffic Act will come into force, according to which municipal cameras throughout the country will monitor traffic violations.
"The process of imposing sanctions is unlikely to begin immediately, since the Ministry of Interior is currently drafting an ordinance that will regulate technical means. In what form will the metadata have to be transmitted to the Ministry of Interior systems," said Dimitar Petrov.
The Traffic Control Center plans to install 20 speed cameras on the boulevards that are used for unregulated competitions.
"Everyone can guess which boulevards are where we have long, straight sections and high speeds can be reached. So we expect the effect of these cameras to be quite large", commented Dimitar Petrov.
It is planned that the new speed control devices in Sofia will be purchased and installed within a year. And the cameras that recognize license plates can be retrofitted to monitor driving without a seat belt or with a phone in hand.