Transport Minister Proposes Measures Against Road Violations Following a Series of Truck Accidents

Transport Minister fo Transport, Grozdan Karadzhov has proposed new measures aimed at curbing road violations, following an increased number of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles. The key idea is to strengthen institutional oversight through the integration of the information systems of all relevant authorities responsible for road safety. The transport sector has once again called for a targeted transport policy and the creation of and a single controlling authority.

Seconds before crashing into the advertising totem of the petrol station in Radomirtsi, the truck that caused the accident had overtaken the lorry driven by professional driver Velislav Tsvetanov.

Velislav Tsvetanov, professional driver:
“It wouldn’t have been just that truck—I would have been next, and it wouldn’t have been just the signpost that got hit. We all would’ve crashed into the petrol station.”

According to Tsvetanov, the driver responsible for the accident was speeding despite clearly hazardous road conditions:

“Roads in Bulgaria are in a deplorable state—especially when it rains. In this particular stretch, and as a professional driver I can confidently state this, the maximum safe speed is no more than 35 km/h. I know my vehicle very well. When I drive through here, it feels safer to be on ice than on this wet asphalt. I don’t know what material they’ve laid down.”

The Minister of Transport has delivered preliminary data from the inspections of transport companies after the crash in Radomirtsi.

Grozdan Karadjov, Minister of Transport and Communications:
“We have some preliminary results that confirm our suspicions—rest periods are not being observed. The tachographs consistently show instances of speeding. And this speeding doesn’t occur by itself; it stems from the actions of the person behind the wheel.”

In response to the string of accidents, Karadzhov announced plans to integrate the information systems of various road-monitoring authorities:

“We shouldn’t stop every vehicle at random—that would only hamper the economy. Instead, by integrating these systems, we can identify which trucks are overloaded. How? We have weighing sensors in every toll gantry. Once we receive a signal that a specific truck is overloaded, the next checkpoint equipped with a DAI (Road Transport Administration) officer and a tablet can stop it accordingly.”

However, hauliers demanded a single control body and gave another example.

Yoana Lalova, vice-president of the European Transport Cluster:

Yoana Lalova, Deputy Chair of the European Transport Cluster:
“DAI—officially the Executive Agency—can stop a truck and detect that it has exceeded the speed limit. But can it issue a ticket for that offense? No, it cannot—that's the answer. They must call the Traffic Police, who then have to verify the data from the tachograph—which is one and the same—and only then can an administrative ticket be issued. It’s absurd. That’s why we are proposing the creation of a unified regulatory body.”

She continued:

“There was the Siyana incident—we implemented an emergency measure. Now there’s a new accident—another emergency measure. But is this measure building on the previous one, or is it something entirely new? It’s not clear. These so-called measures aren’t delivering real results. What we need now is decisive action.”

Final results from the inspection of the transport company involved in the Radomirtsi crash are expected later this week.