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ACTS Post opinions with a wide range of perspectives to encourage constructive discussion.
„A very serious cataclysm is brewing in our society on the issue of road safety. In my opinion, the clash of reality with the illusion in which the state administration lives is imminent. If you listen carefully to what various state experts tell us every day, we are presented with a picture: the number of victims is decreasing, new roads, new roads, strengthening of landslides, new tunnels. It is said that we live in a land of fairy tales and miracles. The other reality is for us, the drivers, the people who are on the roads, we see every day how many problems we have on our roads ”.
This was said by Dr. Ing. Bogdan Milchev from the Institute of Road Safety (IPB) to ACTS. We contacted him to discuss the latest cases of landslides on the road through the Iskar Gorge and the bus-truck accident that killed three people, as well as today’s IPB’s opinion on two public tenders from the State Agency for Road Safety (SABS).
„This ridiculous accident between a bus and a truck shows us once again that in such ridiculous accidents none of us are insured. Such incidents happen only because we make human mistakes and we always will. In the same way, the transport system provider makes human mistakes, “said Bogdan Milchev, giving an example with the road along the Iskar gorge:” Even when this road is designed, there are many problems. The area itself, such that there is heavy weathering of the rocks, there are very serious problems associated with these landslides. Of course, they are activated when there is a certain natural phenomenon.
“The biggest problem here is not that there are landslides, but the problem is that no one is protecting these landslides and landslides. We are currently playing Russian roulette. Imagine cars moving there and suddenly 200 tons of stones are thrown on the road. The fact that there are no casualties so far is the only reason why the transportation system has not faltered to the point where there are truly irreversible changes, “Milchev continued.
When asked who will take responsibility if, unfortunately, a person dies in such a landslide, Milchev replied: “The responsibility will fall on the victim for moving on the road. Do you think and think that the responsibility will be assumed by those who manage the road? They “did it all” – they sent climbers, set up nets, all according to their abilities. This shows us once again that we urgently need a personnel and structural change in the management of our transportation system. I do not understand how smugly the Council of Ministers rubs their hands and says how much success they reap in road safety. regarding the reduction of casualties, and at the same time no one has bothered to analyze what has happened in the last year and a half in which we find ourselves in a totally new situation in relation to this pandemic ”.
„We have produced an analysis of the Institute of Road Safety, which will be published soon. We observe that if we reflect 2020 and 2021 month by month, they are not similarBogdan Milchev announced.January 2021 has a strong decrease in victims, February we have a strong increase. In March, until March 20, the number of victims is similar to that of the victims of March 2020. This shows us that we have no tendency to develop road safety. The rock just goes up and down like a pendulum on a clock and no one in the country can predict what will happen tomorrow, if the stones will fall tomorrow, if someone will crash. In Bulgaria we do not have an institution that has the authority and experience to manage risk on our roads. Everything is absolute improvisation, “he insisted.
We remind you that on February 15th IPB published its report with an assessment of road risks in Bulgaria. When asked if any institution had taken this report into account, Bogdan Milchev replied: “The only comment on this assessment was that some self-proclaimed experts did something that is completely incomprehensible to those with the title of expert. Sorry, but obviously not. there was a way to take this risk assessment into account, because it’s just that the capabilities of those who run our transportation system are great. Proof of my words is incompetence For the second time in more than 7 years, a second government will not be able to create a new Traffic Law. This shows the inability of the leaders who run our transportation system in any direction to get it anywhere. In fact, they cannot prepare adequate legislation, which we have urgently needed for seven years. “
Bogdan Milchev clarified that a new Road Traffic Law is not being drafted not so much for lack of political will, but because “they do not know what this law should contain.” “They don’t know what the new law should be, how it differs from the current one. We have a huge deficit at all levels of our transportation system, ”he said.
„However, I wonder with what high “professionalism” two weeks before the elections the public tenders are organized by the State Road Safety Agency.. And public procurement, for which there have been several attempts to organize by RIA, which have not been successful. Now we suddenly see how an order for 300,000 BGN jumps to 1.6 million BGN with a change of a few words. This is incomprehensible. The SABS aspiration to duplicate the functions of both the Interior Ministry and the RIA is also incomprehensible. This shows once again that the people who run SABS do not know how to run this agency. It has fallen into the hands of people who don’t even know what to do with it, “said Bogdan Milchev.
We would like to remind you that today UPS issued an opinion on two public acquisitions announced by SABS. This opinion says that with these orders SABS not only duplicates the functions of the Ministry of the Interior and RIA, but also anticipates spending inadequate state funds. Before FACTS, Bogdan Milchev explained that the opinion was prepared after an analysis of publicly announced public tenders. “The two multi-million dollar public acquisitions proposed by SABS are absolutely ridiculous and just show that those who run this agency don’t know what to do at all. Certainly the orders are fictitious and the prices are excessively high and our analysis proves it. Certainly, these orders will not contribute in any way to the development of road safety in Bulgaria.“He was categorical.
“The idea of the creation of the State Road Safety Agency was his to manage risk, but you just don’t know what it’s like to manage risk. Those who run it have no idea of risk management. In fact, there is a very serious clash between reality and the pink glasses that the “experts” of the state agency have put on. There will be cataclysms in our transportation system and more ridiculous accidents, of which we cannot give an adequate explanation beyond the fact that the driver committed a violation, made a mistake, was distracted, fell asleep. However, drivers cannot constantly sleep on our roads. . There is probably a more serious problem. “Drivers cannot be constantly distracted on our roads,” said Bogdan Milchev.
„Until we create a legal framework based on the fact that people will always make mistakes and that the transportation system provider must build a system that is tolerant of human errors: when we make a mistake, we do not die, we cannot change anything.. Since Covid-19, we are in a new situation. At the same time, what new measures have those who manage our roads taken in relation to the new situation? What did they do differently than what they did in 2019? The answer is absolutely nothing. The Interior Ministry is doing action after action, but all actions on television. SABS carries out public purchases. RIA is building roads. We have not seen anything extraordinary in road management related to emergency measures, since they directly affect our traffic, which is sometimes restricted and other times released. We have problems and I am convinced that they will only begin to come to light, ”Dr. Bogdan Milchev from the Institute of Highway Safety said at the end of the conversation.
Bulgaria
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