Bulgaria Again Has the Highest Road Accident Death Rate among All EU

Bulgaria again has the highest road accident death rate in the European Union according to data by the Union of Bulgarian Motorists.

The main indicator used to comapre traffic safety in the countries across Europe is the number of people killed in road traffic accidents per million inhabitants, and according to this criterion in 2016, Bulgaria has the highest annual road fatality rates among all EU member states, with nearly 100 dead per every million people.

Even more alarming is that the tendency of the last years for increase in the number of road accident fatalities in our country has remained the same according to analysis on the topic "Road Safety Assessment by Districts in Bulgaria" prepared by Atanas Valev and Georgi Mladenov from the Technical University in Sofia.

According to the statistics, 99 people per million inhabitants lost thei lives in road accident in 2015, in 2014 - 91.8 people, in 2013 and 2012 - 82 people.

The lowest numbers of road fatalities per million inhabitants at national level for 2016 were observed in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Germany and Irlenad – approximately 49.99 dead per million people. The average figures for EU are half in comparison with Bulgaria.

In recent years, the European Commission has taken a number of initiatives to improve road safety in the Member States. Judging by statistics, they have achieved results in more developed Western European countries, but not in our country, the announcement of the Union of Bulgarian Motorists noted.

In 2001, 54,900 people died in road accidents on the roads in the EU, while in 2016 the number of fatalities decreased to 25,500. The decline is remarkable - the number of road deaths was cut in half. In Bulgaria, there is also a downward trend, but not at such a rate. In 2001, the total number of fatalities was 1,011, and in 2016 it was 708 people.

The authors of the survey noted that if the EU had a trend opf fewer road traffic fatalities per 1 million inhabitants, these figures for Bulgaria marked significant fluctuations. With an average of 99.7 per million deaths in 18 Bulgarian districts, there is an increase in the country's average. The increase in the road death toll was particularly observed for the disctricts of Lovech with 263 fatalities, Razgrad with 208, Vidin with 169, Montana with 163 and Silistra with 143 people per 1 million population. The road accident death rate in those distcits is extremely high not only for Bulgaria but also for the EU as well.

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