advertisement
Sat, Feb 11 2012
Danger warning as Bulgaria’s seaside holiday road traffic builds up
Photo: Ivan Grigorov
Authorities in Bulgaria have urged motorists to drive carefully as road traffic builds up with the summer seaside holiday season.
The dangerous stretch on the Sofia – Bourgas route between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora poses many risks for drivers. The stretch is a popular choice for overtaking where it is not safe to do so, speeding and duelling for position on the way to or from the seaside.
Bulgarian National Television said on July 18 2009 that traffic on that stretch was intensifying, and "almost every day" during peak traffic, there were accidents, some fatal and others slight.
Jonko Georgieva, a spokesperson for local traffic authorities in Sliven, said that the relatively good condition of the road made it possible to travel fast and some drivers went at "motorway speeds", aggravating the risks.
Bulgarian news agency Focus said on July 18 that there were many foreign-registered cars travelling Bulgaria’s highways, with Turkish, German and Austrian licence plates, with cars of migrant workers frequently travelling in convoy.
Convoys of such cars had been seen along the Kalotina – Sofia route, at the Sofia ring road and the junction for Trakiya motorway, heading for Haskovo and the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint.
The police presence on the northern Black Sea coast, in the region of Balchik, on the roads to Shabla, Durankulak, Varna, Golden Sands and other resorts was stepped up at the weekend.
On July 19, one person died and three were injured in a road accident in the northern village of Toros, Focus said.
A minivan went out of control and hit two pedestrians. The driver of the van ran away but was detained by police, who said that the driver was 22, did not have a driving licence and had a blood-alcohol level well over the legal limit.
On July 18, a Slovakian citizen died after being hit by two cars consecutively on the road between the seaside town of Kiten and village of Lozenets, the District Police Directorate said.
The pedestrian "who sprang on the road out of the blue", Focus said, was hit by a Bourgas driver and, knocked by the impact into the opposite lane, was then hit by a Sliven driver.
Four people, three Bulgarians and a Greek, died on July 18 in a head-on collision between their car and lorry between Serres and Promahon in Greece. Reports said that the driver appeared to have lost control of the heavily-loaded vehicle, Bulgarian National Radio said.
The dangerous stretch on the Sofia – Bourgas route between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora poses many risks for drivers. The stretch is a popular choice for overtaking where it is not safe to do so, speeding and duelling for position on the way to or from the seaside.
Bulgarian National Television said on July 18 2009 that traffic on that stretch was intensifying, and "almost every day" during peak traffic, there were accidents, some fatal and others slight.
Jonko Georgieva, a spokesperson for local traffic authorities in Sliven, said that the relatively good condition of the road made it possible to travel fast and some drivers went at "motorway speeds", aggravating the risks.
Bulgarian news agency Focus said on July 18 that there were many foreign-registered cars travelling Bulgaria’s highways, with Turkish, German and Austrian licence plates, with cars of migrant workers frequently travelling in convoy.
Convoys of such cars had been seen along the Kalotina – Sofia route, at the Sofia ring road and the junction for Trakiya motorway, heading for Haskovo and the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint.
The police presence on the northern Black Sea coast, in the region of Balchik, on the roads to Shabla, Durankulak, Varna, Golden Sands and other resorts was stepped up at the weekend.
On July 19, one person died and three were injured in a road accident in the northern village of Toros, Focus said.
A minivan went out of control and hit two pedestrians. The driver of the van ran away but was detained by police, who said that the driver was 22, did not have a driving licence and had a blood-alcohol level well over the legal limit.
On July 18, a Slovakian citizen died after being hit by two cars consecutively on the road between the seaside town of Kiten and village of Lozenets, the District Police Directorate said.
The pedestrian "who sprang on the road out of the blue", Focus said, was hit by a Bourgas driver and, knocked by the impact into the opposite lane, was then hit by a Sliven driver.
Four people, three Bulgarians and a Greek, died on July 18 in a head-on collision between their car and lorry between Serres and Promahon in Greece. Reports said that the driver appeared to have lost control of the heavily-loaded vehicle, Bulgarian National Radio said.
-
Print
-
Send via email
- Translate to
-
Share:
Comments
To post comments, please, Login or Register.
Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.
Bulgaria’s Cabinet approves changes to Road Traffic Act
Amendments aimed against illegal issuing of driving licences and against cars getting roadworthy certificates without being inspected.
Fishermen disappear in stormy sea near Shabla and Kavarna
Two ongoing operations near Shabla and Kavarna are searching for fishermen swept to sea
Ministry and branch organisations to review driving instruction practices
Corruption and unfair competition were among the industry's biggest problems.
Porsche driver in deadly road accident flees abroad while awaiting charges
The businessman who crashed his Porsche GT3 into a Belgian family and killed a young girl has a long record of speed violations
Golden Sands resort reports 60% fall in H1 revenue
In the second quarter alone, the drop in non-consolidated revenue was 35 per cent year-on-year to 4.3 million leva.
Summer road deaths in Bulgaria mount up
In latest fatal accident, driver and passenger die as their car collides head-on with a truck while driving in the oncoming lane.
More in this category
US embassy in Sofia announces youth essay contest
Works will be reviewed by a group of judges, and winners will receive certificates and prizes.
Bulgarian police bust drug distribution gang in ‘Operation Hammer’
Seven arrested, including ‘The Squirrel’ who was found in possession of 10 00 euro, Interior Ministry says. Mobile phones, computer equipment and drug paraphernalia seized.
Bulgaria’s winter weekend weather – cloudy and cold with light snow
Maximum temperatures across the country will remain mostly below zero.
Mild earth tremors in Bulgaria on February 10
The first tremor was at about 12.34am, followed by another three minutes later. Their epicentres were located between the towns of Radnevo and Topolovgrad.
Bulgaria halts electricity exports after power plant accident
There was no risk of blackouts caused by insufficient power supply, Economy Minister Traicho Traikov told Bulgarian National Radio.
© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.
Web Design by RIZN
Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted.
Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only
with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site.
Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com.
Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments.
The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the
price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes,
and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.
- Economedia Group portfolio:
- In Bulgarian:
-
Business:
Капитал,
Кариери,
Пазари,
Ho Re Mag,
Регал,
Градът.bg,
Одит,
Foton.bg,
Online shop
- News: Дневник, Европа, Foreign Policy - България
- IT: IDG.BG, Computerworld, PC World, CIO, Networkworld
- Entertainment: Бакхус
-
In English:
The Sofia Echo
I except your invitation for a pint and would love to sit and discuss the Issues that surround BG. I've been here 7 yrs and I do love it here, I'm just growing tired of all the empty promises that the Bulgarian people get and hang their hats on only to be once again disappointed again and again. I feel bad for them, they have either no hope or are running out of it very quickly and I can see why. I will continue to work in BG but my girlfriend and I will set up our main base in [...]
Read the full comment the states and we will continue to come to BG as I do work here and she is also very much involved in the healthcare field providing hospice care to those that can't afford it and would otherwise be left to die without and dignity what so ever because the state will not reinburse family's for end of life care. I suppose they figure what's the point, they are going to die anyway. It's just sad the lack of human respect the state has for it's people. While I'm not a Boyko fan myself, as in American, I wish him success, this is a given. I'm not an Obama supporter as well but I wish him well.
It seems we have more in common then not. For me it is pure culture shock to live in BG, to not even have a trauma center in the whole country with state of the art healthcare ability's. No ability to chopper in a trauma from one part of the country to another is unexceptable. If you don't know someone or know how to manipulate the system you can't even get basic test done here in BG. My girlfriend had to say she had MS in order to get an MRI of her head and neck to rule out a cervical injury because according the the rules now, she didn't qualify, is that exceptable? I think not.
But again, as to your invitation for a pint and a talk on some good old fashion BG politics, I'm all in mate.
Cheers
To "Drive with a Helmet", principally. Please, I'm not a Boyko fan. We'll have to see what he and his new-born party actually deliver against the grand promises. Secondly, the UK pothole situation is really that bad (I read several newspaper reports on this, a few months ago). I'm both a (car) motorist and cyclist – here in Sofia, and formerly in UK, where I lived for 55 years, OK. There, as a cyclist, you could apply for compensation for bike road damage – theoretically, but it took years to process a claim. Anyway, to keep to the point: the [...]
Read the full comment money may not be stolen in UK (apart from Members of Parliament fiddling their expenses, of course), and that in general seems to be a huge problem in BG. If Boyko and his Boys actually do anything about this, BG will (I hope) quickly become a better, more positive place, in all aspects. You're absolutely right when you say "Bulgaria deserves better", and everyone has to work for that.We should meet for an online pint of beer! But, don't give up and run away!
I agree with everyone so far.
I enjoyed reading your comments especially "drive with a helmet".
When I have been to USA, I must say I have found the roads very good - I did not know about the
pot hole hotline! Amazing!!
French roads are also good. In the UK we do have our share of potholes
but nothing like Bulgaria - and we do not get a lot of EU money to sort them out, but neither is the money stolen.
Bulgaria is a beautiful country, [...]
Read the full comment
but things are very frustrating.
If things do not improve foreigners will go elsewhere. People in the Uk are heading for Turkey, Tunisia
and Egypt for value - once some may have gone to Bulgaria.And for skiing, they would rather pay a bit more and go to Austria or Italy
or even Slovenia.Unfortunately I
bought a chalet in Bulgaria- a big
mistake.
I thought tourism was important to the economy of Bulgaria. I can only conclude this was a mistake.
Jonathan, I think you're right, it is Sofia drivers for sure. As for better roads on the moon before BG, I'm affraid you right again. The fact that most people from Sofia don't even respect one way streets is unreal to me. It causes fights in the streets, I've seen this before. I Love BG but I hate driving in it, I would never bring over or buy a nice new car in BG since it would be ruined, stolen or damaged within weeks in Sofia. I also don't understand why Bulgarians fine it so difficult to park a car, [...]
Read the full comment it's really very simply. Even on the street between a trash bin and a large tree.
It may be just a coincidence, but I notice that the vehicles that tend to speed or be driven dangeroudly nearly always have 'C' or 'CA' registration. I have often wondered if the accident rate is higher for them as a percentage compared to other areas! As for the highway, I have more confidence that we will have a hotel on the moon, before Bulgaria gets its first complete motorway.
A-Ha, so your actually a Boyko fan, not I see your agenda, to protect his do nothing time as a mayor and now make the comparision between the UK and BG. This is apples and oranges. Two totally different things. I've spent time in both countries and you actually think that the UK has as many if not more pot holes then BG? Now I know you haven't been to the UK and in the UK at least the money allocated for such repair has not been stolen. Your doing everything to take away from the obvious situation here in [...]
Read the full comment BG and that is the EU gave BG Hundreds of millions of Euro to fix the roads in BG and in typical fashion, the Bulgarian hands have had their hand in the cookie jar. In the states we have a pot hole hot line and if you see a large pot hole on a major road, you call this line and within a couple of days it is fixed. We do not steal the money that is used to make our roads safe, it seems counter productive, don't you think? My biggest point is however is why is there no outrage over the corruption that occurs in this country. They are stealing from people like you and your family which I'm sure are hard working family's. We may disagree on some issue's and I've may have been off point in some regard, I'm just so pissed to hear about this everyday that roads are not being fixed and this and that is not getting done and having it all blamed on the EU. Can't BG do anything for itself without the EU? It has before. I'm tired of living in Bulgaria and laughed at while abroad by people making such comments about the fact that any EU funding that goes to BG is just going into the hands of BG polititions and the family's of these people. I'm for the little guy, the guy that goes out each day and works his ass off to do better for his family, only to have to go to a garage to have his car fixed Yet,again another attempt by the govt to distract attention from the corruption that occurs here. I'm embarressed for you BG, your such a beautiful country and for some leaders to ruin it for all of you is a dam shame. So Phil, stay safe, don't quote me for everything I say as it won't relate to the artical all the time, think of some excuses for the actions of the BG govt or justify them if this is possible. Stay safe, drive careful and be safe.
Dear "Drive with a helmet"'
You continue to rant and rave, sadly (see my posting re Rally). You are right about individual drivers, I admit. As for the potholes, etc, the UK, for example, will need 70 years to repair all of theirs at current spending levels. So, please don't accuse 'hero' BB!
You're right Jordan, it is a suicide road and I'm sure the only reason that the state will give is that they lose the funds from the EU. That's a whole other story as you know. (corruption)= Bulgaria.
But if people just used common sense, I know, what is that? Drive the speed limit, don't pass Lada's just because they are doing the speed limit. It the states our teenagers drive at a very young age 16-17 and they have more sense then drivers in Bulgaria. They also know if they screw up the police will fine them [...]
Read the full comment or take away the ability to drive. So what if you get to the Black Sea an extra hr later? At least you will get there without killing your's or someone else's family. As for the state and the conditions of the roads, shame on you, it's a shame the ability to hold the govt accountable for not doing it's job is not available in BG because they should be sued for all the ruined tires, shock absorbers and all the other damage that the roads of Bulgaria do to the cars of the people of Bulgaria. Hell Boyko couldn't do it as a Mayor, do you think this will change with him as the new PM HA HA HA I feel bad for you Bulgaria, you deserve so much better.
Yesterday or the day before there was an article saying that the entire sunner holiday season was expected to be a failure, hotels were underbooked, crowds were 20% less than last year and hotels laying off employees. Now I read that holiday traffic is a major concern on the way to all of those empty sea side hotels. Things must have turned around FAST!
That is the suicidal stretch. Until they start to seriously consider building bigger and better highways, many more drivers will loose their lives.