With a church service and a call to the public to join in candle-lighting, November 21 2010 saw the first time that Bulgaria participated in the World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Accident Victims.
 
According to official statistics released on the eve of the day, more than 700 people have died in car crashes in Bulgaria since the start of 2010, and more than 7200 have been injured.
 
In Bulgaria, close to 25 per cent of those who died in car accidents were children, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said.
 
Statistics show that in Sofia, pedestrian crossings and bus stops are the most frequent sites of traffic accidents.
 
In Bulgaria from 1990 to 2009, more than 21 000 people died in vehicle accidents and more than 168 000 were injured, with close to 30 per cent disabled for life. Recent years have seen a decline in the rate of fatal accidents.
 
Organisers called on those who wanted to honour the memory of those who had died on the roads to light candles in their windows at 7.30pm.
 
Events on November 21 in Bulgaria were organised by the Bulgarian Red Cross, the public advisory committee on road safety, the Bulgarian Association of the Insured and Injured in Road Accidents and Sofia traffic police.
 
Bulgarian news agency Focus quoted Vladimir Todorov of the Bulgarian Association of the Insured and Injured in Road Accidents as saying that that only three to five per cent of people wore rear seatbelts. The association intended campaigning next year to encourage people to also wear seatbelts when travelling in the back of a car, he said.
 
Up to 300 of the road deaths this year had been the result of people not wearing seatbelts, he said. Bulgarians were "almost used" to wearing seatbelts in cars’ front seats but it was rare for rear seat passengers to wear them, he said.
 
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said that its annual Operation Light to ensure that motorists drove with their headlights on during the winter season was winding up this weekend. The operation is also intended to ensure that cars have winter tyres and clean windows.
 
Bulgarian law requires driving with headlights on during the winter months, from November to March. Reports said that most accidents in winter take place at dusk and after dark.

The UN News Service reported on November 21 that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for improving road safety around the world, saying it is the best way to honour the victims of traffic accidents.

An estimated 1.3 million people die on the world's roads every year with about 50 million injured or disabled by accidents, with accidents costing countries up to four per cent of their Gross National Product (GNP) yearly.

In a message marking the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Ban said greater awareness of the challenge posed by road traffic incidents had brought responses and the UN had declared the first-ever Decade of Action for Road Safety.

"Governments should release their national plans for the Decade when it is launched globally on May 11 2011," Ban said.

Mourning the victims of traffic accidents, he said that the UN would work hard to prevent further deaths on the roads.

"Many tragedies can be avoided through a set of proven, simple measures that benefit not only individuals and families but society at large," he said.

"For my part, I have issued a directive to all United Nations staff instructing drivers of UN vehicles to practice road safety, including by wearing seatbelts, obeying speed limits and avoiding the use of mobile phones and other distractions.

"If we all take these simple measures, we can give real meaning to this observance, thereby honouring the memory of the victims in the best way possible: with action to spare the lives of others," Ban said.