Traffic police starts checks on Bulgarian roads as part of operation “Winter”

Traffic police on November 1, 2024, launches the operation "Winter", which aims to ensure that vehicles are ready for driving in winter conditions.

Under the law, drivers are required to obligatory use winter tyres with a minimum tread depth of 4 mm.

The operation will go through three stages.

The first stage will focus on bicycles, animal-drawn vehicles, electric scooters, the second stage will focus on pedestrians and the third stage on vehicles.

As part of the first campaign of operation “Winter”, the traffic police will check the condition of tyres, lights, wipers, including the windscreen washing system. The next one, on 17 November, will mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. In the last three winter seasons there have been over 5,000 serious road accidents in the country, with 435 deaths and nearly 6,400 injuries.

"Since the beginning of the year until yesterday we have had 11 cyclists killed and 324 injured in road accidents. The cyclists who died were on the territory of Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Lovech, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and the city of Sofia," said Dimitar Michev, head of traffic police at the General Directorate of National Police.

In his words, pedestrians remain the biggest problem, with 85 people killed since the beginning of the year.