18-year-old Martin Atanasov Creates a Map of Crashes on Roads in Bulgaria

18-year-old Martin Atanasov has created a map of road traffic accidents in Bulgaria.

He named it "Black Spots".

The idea came after the 12-year-old Siyana died in a car crash on March 31.

The crash map visualises the systemic issues with roads across the entire country and how they are interconnected. The map covers nearly 180,000 accidents between 2021 and 2025.

The map is interactive, with all accidents from that period marked as red dots.

The aim is to draw attention to the fact that the problem on the roads is not just in certain places, but happens everywhere.

“On the one hand, I received support from institutions, but perhaps it was because they are legally obligated to respond, since the data was requested under the Access to Public Information Act, which allows every citizen to request public information that is important for all of us. They responded within the legal timeframe and provided accurate data.

Since the project went live, thousands of people have contacted me with suggestions for improvement and updates. The aim of the project is to be continually developed and to be useful for every one of us,” commented Martin Atanasov, creator of the map, on the BNT morning show “The Day Begins” on May 30.