The tragedy with the deceased family in Plovdiv is unfortunately being overexposed and conveniently used to settle private scores. This was written on Facebook by road expert Diana Rusinova in connection with the serious accident on Monday at the intersection of the ring road and "Zaharidovo" Street in the "Komatevo" district.
A MAN truck entered the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into a passenger car. The 43-year-old driver of the car and her companions - a 42-year-old man and a 14-year-old child - died on the spot. Another 7-year-old child is in hospital.
"The owners of the properties along the road have been demanding for years the removal of the road restraint system (RSS), or as we all call it - the guardrail," commented Rusinova.
"Their demands are dressed up as calls for increased safety, but I would say that this is real hypocrisy. I am attaching photos from which it is clearly visible that in 2018 - before the guardrails were installed - the benches were conveniently used as parking along the road," she wrote.
Rusinova asks: "Which is more dangerous: hitting the RSS or a parked car or truck?
"On the other hand, since the road was obviously a free parking lot for the thriving businesses on both sides - mainly car dealerships – apparently these people think it was “safer” for their customers to freely wander along the ring road to look at the cars lined up on both sides of it. Not to mention the many sellers of tomatoes, peppers and all sorts of other vegetables who, when there were no barriers, had conveniently turned the embankment into a stall. I really can't believe that there are people who are using the fact that we lost an entire family to increase property prices and solve their problem with access to them. Do they really not know – or are they just not comfortable knowing – that an irrigation canal runs along this section, which should be fenced with a GSP not according to national, but according to European requirements?", explains Rusinova.
She asked another important question: Is business more important than human life?
Regarding the solution to the problem, Rusinova pointed out that it does not lie in the guardrails, but in the need to expand the Plovdiv ring road.
Tomorrow, a proposal will be submitted to the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works to include the road in the list of national sites of strategic importance in order to accelerate its implementation. According to her, this would solve the problem.
The RIA is expected to conduct a safety assessment and the measures that will be taken.
"By law, they have certain obligations and I hope to see adequate measures and actions on their part. Regarding the protesters, I wonder: will these same numerous private property owners - who are now preparing to even protest “in the name of safety” - be so concerned when it comes time to donate the parts of their properties that have not yet been expropriated and paid for with taxpayer money? Or does concern end where personal interests begin?", she also writes.