Overall 581 victims of road traffic accidents registered in Bulgaria this year

Overall 581 people have been killed in traffic accidents in Bulgaria since the beginning of this year, announced yesterday the Bulgarian Association of Traffic Accident Victims on the occasion of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. For the same period, the military death toll of all nationalities in Afghanistan stood at 469, commented the Association's Chairman, Vladimir Todorov.

The number of road traffic victims is by 100 people less compared to the same period last year. The actual number of victims was also displayed on the information panel of the Military Medical Academy, Sofia.

Over the past 10 years, the casualties of road traffic accidents in Bulgaria reached 100, 542 people, out of which the fatalities number 9, 852 citizens, while overall 90, 690 people were injured. In 2010 merely, the road accidents in Bulgaria killed a total of 776 people, while overall 8, 078 citizens were injured. Over half of the victims were in active working age from 25 to 64 (59.9%), followed by people over 65 years of age (20.6%). Besides, youths between 18-24 years of age comprised 14.6% of the victims, while children up to 17 constituted 4.9%.

"There is hardly a Bulgarian family in which there is no road traffic casualty. Over the past ten years, the actual number of about 10,000 road traffic victims could equal, for example, that of a killed population of an entire town with the size of Troyan. The good news is that a hundred lives more were rescued this year than the last one. As a result, one hundred families more will celebrate Christmas this year," said Vladimir Todorov.

Yesterday, the parents of children killed in car crashes demanded tougher penalties for the drunk or drugged drivers who cause road accidents. Their aim is the crime committed by a drunk or drugged driver to be reclassified from unpremeditated to intentional offence in order to be punishable with life imprisonment, reckoned Katya Trifonova, the mother of the killed Trifon Trifonov in the deadly car crash, which happened on Easter in the town of Simeonovgrad. At that time, a young drunken driver ran over and killed on the spot a total of six young people, who wanted to attend a church service.

On the occasion of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the churches across Bulgaria celebrated masses. Besides, vigils and demonstrations related to road safety were held.

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A memorial to road traffic victims to be built in Sofia

Next year, we plan to construct in Sofia a memorial in memory of the road traffic victims. There we will have the opportunity to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, stated Vladimir Todorov, the Chair of the Bulgarian Association of Traffic Accident Victims. Yesterday, the Association jointly with the Union of Bulgarian Motorists and the Bulgarian Red Cross along with the MMA appealed to all Bulgarian citizens to light a candle in memory of the road traffic victims and called upon the drivers to become more reasonable, careful and tolerant on the road.

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