The government has a plan to reduce the number of serious road accidents. The state is creating a major new agency to improve road safety. The functions of several existing institutions will be taken over and merged into the Executive Agency “Automotive Transport Operator”. All physical checks of motor vehicles will now be carried out solely by the police.
For the first time, there will be a body specifically responsible for road safety. This will be the new Executive Agency “Automotive Transport Operator”, its purpose is to collect and process all traffic information.
Georgi Peev, Minister of Transport and Communications:“The agency will be tasked with managing and analysing risk. Legislative changes will also be made so that this risk can be analysed and managed, and so that the agency has the necessary powers to direct the required financial resources to areas where they are needed.”
The information hub will be located at the Ministry of Transport. All road traffic control will be consolidated exclusively within the Ministry of the Interior.
Georgi Peev, Minister of Transport and Communications:"We will try to stop random checks based on some unknown principle. Instead, heavy goods vehicles and cars will be stopped based on their risk profile, when there is a reason to do so.”
Ivan Demerdzhiev, Minister of the Interior: "Transferring control to the Ministry of the Interior will lead to a reduction of around 30% in the current number of staff positions involved in comprehensive road enforcement. In other words, it will not cost the state anything extra.”
In addition to improving road safety, the new agency is also expected to boost state revenue.
Rumen Radev, Prime Minister:“The effect we expect is, first and foremost, improved road safety. And secondly, which is no less important, increased revenue collection by the Customs Agency and the National Revenue Agency.”
A total of 31 new measures are planned, ranging from education to transport infrastructure. One of them is the return of driving practice grounds as part of driver training, with six new facilities to be built for this purpose. Sensors to monitor tyre quality are also planned. Revenue generated by the new measures will be invested in infrastructure. Which transport corridors will be prioritised by the state and how they will be financed will become clear following an analysis.
Photos: BTA
Rumen Radev, Prime Minister: “They have already been identified in a register, and a detailed market, financial and legal analysis of these projects is also being carried out. Because our major problem at the moment is the lack of project readiness for new road construction.”
The entire road safety reform is expected to be completed by 2027.
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