80% of Pedestrian Crossings across the Country Do not Meet the Requirements

There is no effective sanction mechanism for those who have committed violations, said Sotir Tsatsarov. He noted that such inspection of the pedestrian crossings was carried out for the first time. According to him, the results show defects and serious violations of the legislation. The Chief Prosecutor added that work in the area of prevention needs to be critically enhanced, as well as control activities and sanctions.

The identified problems include lack of road signs indicating a pedestrian footpath, improperly located crossings with wrong signaling and marking.

Regional Minister Nankov said that changes will be made to the legal basis for the requirements for pedestrian crossings. He added that a register with the country’s pedestrian crossings will be established and inspections would be made on a regular basis every year. As after June 30, there will be a new check in the towns where most problems were found.

According to the data provided by Interior Minister Valentin Radev, 13,981 pedestrian crossings have been checked in 13,629 settlements and 352 outside of settlements. Violations were identified in over 50 percent of the total number of crossings. He said that the Ministry of Interior would issue the appropriate instructions to the relevant agencies in order to find solution to the problems.