The issue of road safety in Bulgaria has been discussed for years, yet the result is always the same – empty talk and minimal work on the ground to make the roads safer, to improve traffic flow and to get from point A to point B.
Whenever we witness some major crash, we always tell ourselves: „It won’t happen to me!“. But no one is immune. No one knows whether they might find themselves in a situation where there is no way out. That is exactly what happened on the Trakia Motorway – drivers with nowhere to go. Forward only, and a crash; behind you, the same thing.
The fog and reduced visibility were surely among the main causes of the crash, because you cannot see what is happening in front of or around you. But it is also certain that if everyone drove more slowly, if everyone were more careful, if drivers did not race their powerful cars, press the accelerator and crowd the others, if we were all more tolerant on the road, there would be far fewer incidents like the one on the Trakia Motorway. Some of them could even have been avoided if people were a little more considerate.
Many positions and opinions were heard about what should have been done and what could have been done.
But the essential question is why wasn’t it done?
One excellent opportunity would have been to install information boards within the toll system’s framework to warn drivers. And yes, we learned that this had been considered, that money had been secured and that there were supposed to be 40 signs. Only two, however, were installed.
And why were only two installed? Is this a question for the Road Infrastructure Agency, or for the Toll Administration? Who failed to do their job so that the remaining 38 could be installed? And shouldn’t the person who failed to do their job bear the main responsibility for this carnage on the Trakia Motorway, which claimed 11 lives?
And yes, once the cart has overturned, many comments and analyses appear about the roads. But in fact, we need to return to the question of why what could have been done earlier was not done.
As after every such major tragedy, we will once again talk about what should have been done. Let us stop thinking about what should have been done and start taking action. Let us do something. Let us help. Let us organize ourselves to be calmer on the road and more tolerant of one another.
Because surely no one can explain today to the loved ones and relatives of those who died who failed to do what, despite having the authority and receiving public funds to make the road safer. To ensure that situations like these are predictable and that the behavior of everyone who gets behind the wheel is more appropriate.
Otherwise, we are kings of the road, each in their own way.
When we leave Bulgaria, we become exceptionally model drivers. We observe the speed limits down to the last kilometer because we know that sanctions will catch up with us there. But the moment we return to Bulgaria, we put our foot down, assuming that there are no laws here. There are no rules here. I am in Bulgaria and I’ll manage. It won’t happen to me!
Well, sometimes even thinking that you are in Bulgaria and will manage is hardly enough. Because you may find yourself in a situation where things do not depend entirely on you. You crash into the car in front of you, the next driver crashes into you from behind, also having thought that there was no problem in Bulgaria and that they would manage. And so car after car, truck and bus pile into one another. And next to them – 11 victims. A true tragedy.
The road safety lesson clearly has not been learned.
Apparently, we only like to talk and watch, not act as well. But finally, someone in this country must find the courage to take action and do things as they should be done, so that we can minimize this type of incident on the road.
Years ago, there was another crash like this near Ihtiman (in 2017, involving 40 cars, with no fatalities). The fog simply descended there because of the terrain, as the road went down into a valley filled with dense fog. People now drive carefully there. Did 11 people have to die for drivers to understand that they must proceed with increased caution on this section of the Trakia Motorway? And drivers will certainly be more careful from now on, regardless of whether there is fog or not.
So let us clear the fog from our own minds and become more tolerant on the road. It is not that difficult. It is a matter of will.