On Irresponsible Driving

A policeman slammed a car near the Bulgarian town of Parvomay and ran away, coming back ten minutes after the incident, refusing alcohol check and giving blood sample. A Bulgarian citizen hit three fellow citizens with his car in Italy and sped off, leaving dead two people, one of them a 15-year-old child. Eighteen innocent people died on a killer-bridge near Byala a few days before last Christmas. 118 people have been killed on the streets of Sofia alone last year. And if this statistics does not touch anybody, because it did not happen in their family, maybe the thought that each one of us can be the next victim of the craze called Bulgarian “Road War” could be a little more shaking.

The changes to the Road Law, which the Ministry of the Interior introduced two weeks ago, increasing the charges for traffic regulation violation, and the ambitious program which aspires by 2010 to reduce the number of the killed in car accidents on the Bulgarian roads from 5842 to 700 are just a small fraction of what needs to be done.

What is more important is a change in the drivers’ attitudes. They need to understand that driving without obeying the rules is not only threatening the life of the others, but also their own. Sitting behind the wheel after having two glasses of rakia is irresponsible driving. Better stay on the table, have another drink and let the sober ones drive. Even if this is your brand new, glossy and expensive new car. And even if it cost a fortunes- a hands-free for your mobile phone is still affordable- and you do need it when you drive.

Dropping ten leva in the pocket of the angry underpaid policeman does not permit anyone to drive with 100 km/h when the speed limit indicates 50 km/h. Because road signs and limits are for everybody and they are put for a reason. They are to raise awareness that there are others on the same road, and to remind the ultimate goal of any trip is to arrive at the destination in one piece.

And if somebody thinks that this is too much to be required- at least use seatbelts. If not- just go to your doctor and sign a declaration that you agree to donate your organs to other people in case you have a lethal accident. Because some need the life others are careless about.