IPB distributed its statement to Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov regarding the government's measures against the "war on the roads":
Dear Mr. Zhelyazkov,
There is a growing failure to fulfill one of the government's main priorities. Since the beginning of the year to date, 133 people have died as a result of road accidents. This is 6% more than in the same period last year (see Table 1 and 2).
The GDP work program adopted by the Council of Ministers does not contain a single specific measure aimed at the road accident risk management system. Of the 43 measures presented, it is not indicated what the expected result will be and when it will be achieved. Everywhere it is written increase, decrease, improvement, acceleration, stimulation, etc. similar. We hope that you are aware that the final result in GDP management is measured in specific numbers so that the effectiveness of the measures can be tracked. Priority is given to training and the construction of automated systems, 16 of the measures are related to holding parent meetings, training of the teaching staff, etc. similar. These are activities set out in the National Strategy for the Development of the Bulgarian Democratic Republic 2021-2030, the effect of the implementation of these measures will be measured in 2040.
Five of the measures are aimed at increasing control, whatever that means. Enhanced control, joint control, increased control are wishful thinking and do not mean anything concrete. Also, these wishes are not consistent with the technical and physical capabilities of the control bodies.
Three of the measures are aimed at punishing drivers, such as removing checkpoints, etc. Periodically over the past 20 years, after every major public disaster, similar actions have been taken, but it is clear to everyone that the results are short-lived and then the problems worsen.
One of the measures is the creation of a unit to investigate the most serious road accidents in order to analyze the causes. The investigation is currently being carried out by the National Investigation Service, investigating police officers and the prosecutor's office. The fact that no one has analyzed these investigations so far does not mean that we need to create a new structure. We remind you that in 2019 the State Agency “BDP“ was created and no one has yet forbidden it from collecting information about the most serious road accidents and analyzing it.
Creating a repository of materials and good practices for teaching road safety in the education system. This is the 36th measure of the work program adopted by the government. This and other similar cases show the inadequacy of the responsible institutions to successfully combat road traffic injuries. If a government sets as one of its priorities in the BDP the creation of a “materials warehouse…“, then we have certainly lost the “war on the roads“.