The Cabinet approved important proposals for changes to the Road Traffic Act. Part of the main texts provide that traffic police can control traffic with unmarked cars. And what else… Attorney Elitsa Buenova spoke to FAKTI.
- Lawyer Buenova, it is expected that many changes will come into force in the Law on Road Traffic. Let's summarize what the most important ones are. It will now be able to take us off the road unmarked as a police car, but it will have Ministry of Internal Affairs officers and will give us special signals. What is the purpose of this?
- First of all, I must note that these are not new changes and they are still far from coming into effect. It is a matter of a bill to amend the Road Traffic Act, which was prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as early as the 48th National Assembly, was introduced by the Council of Ministers in the 49th and 50th National Assembly, but never reached the plenary hall. Deputies formed committees, simulated activity and never found time to deal with these very important changes.
There has been talk of a new Social Security Act for years, but since there won't be one soon, they need to understand that these changes must be passed now, and whoever wants and has the capacity should write a new law, if at all one is passed ever. But we can't help but make changes waiting for something like that to happen.
By removing offenders from unmarked police cars, the aim is to re-educate the young people on the road, who, when they see a police car, are the most exemplary drivers, but when there is none, or after passing one, they press the gas pedal and take many risky maneuvers &ndash ; overtaking, prohibited turns, right-of-way and all that we witness every day. This practice has taken hold worldwide, but we, as always, will find the hot water.
- The highway speed is reduced from 140 km/h to 130 km/h. Are 10 km/h fatal?
- There is an opinion of experts that 10 km/h with a difference of 130 to 140 is of great importance. At these speeds, the distance a car travels in the reaction time of its driver, a lot can happen. In addition, the impact force is significantly greater – it's not like crashing at 50km/h. It is absurd that we are the country with the worst roads, the most undisciplined drivers, the oldest fleet and the most road fatalities in the EU and have the highest speed limit on a motorway. I exclude, of course, the places in Germany where there is no limit.
It is important to note here that the speed for passenger cars has also decreased for expressway traffic - from 120 km/h to 110 km/h.
- It is expressly prohibited to cross a pedestrian path when operating bicycles and scooters while using mobile devices. Sounds good, but how will this be monitored?
- We're about to find out. It is time for the Ministry of the Interior to allocate a resource for foot police to monitor these things. Such powers could easily be given to municipal and security police. We cannot expect only the traffic police to monitor compliance with traffic rules, since one patrolwoman is responsible for 20-30 settlements per day.
- A 30 km/h zone is increasingly being imposed. We drive slowly, but we emit more exhaust gases. What do we mean by this?
- We aim for safety. Those that emit more exhaust gases should simply not have access to inner city areas and we won't have this problem.
- 17-year-olds will be able to drive motorcycles, but they must have a companion on them as well. How will it be monitored?
- Not only motorcycles, but also cars. Control will be carried out through checks.
- The changes envisage that the cameras from the toll system will also be used to measure average speed. We've been talking about it for years, but it still doesn't happen. What does this change give us?
- This is provided for in another bill, which, however, moves parallel to that of the Council of Ministers. This change will adequately respond to the established practice of drivers warning each other and using various applications to reduce speed, passing the cameras of the Ministry of the Interior, and then continue driving at high speed.
- There is also an important change for bikers. Tell more…
- While the maximum permitted speed for cars has decreased, that for motorbikes has increased. Category A is divided into two and for those of category A and A2 the permitted speed is equal to that of category B.
- And these are the next fixes of the fixes. Why do we always work piecemeal? Something happens, we change the law. Where does the philosophy of law remain…
- My view is that there are laws, but there is no one to observe them, and there is no one to observe them, because there is no one to exercise effective control. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is used to keep people in a constant state of fear, and the sanctions are aimed at filling the coffers, not disciplining the drivers. Evidence of this is the lack of blood testing laboratories, which is why people with positive field tests wait more than a year for the result of the blood sample, during which the Ministry of Internal Affairs treats them as guilty until proven otherwise, and the fact that the money from the fines that come in the Road Safety Fund, are not spent on road safety, but fill the holes in the budget.