Bulgaria workshop – 25-26 February 2025
The fourth workshop of the EU Road Safety Exchange (EURSE) project’s second phase took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 25 and 26 February 2025. The event was co-organised with the State Agency for Road Safety (SARS). Partners from the Directorate General for Traffic (DGT) in Spain, the Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI) and the Police of Finland joined the EURSE workshop that follows two study visits organised in 2024.
The first day of the workshop, held at the SARS headquarters, was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov and Deputy Minister of Interior Toni Todorov, highlighting enforcement, intoxicated driving, crash investigation, and driver training as key areas for improvement and emphasising the importance of exchanging best practices. This was followed by an overview of the EURSE project, of which Bulgaria has been part of since its inception.
A key focus for the first day was crash investigation and data collection and use. Experts from Finland presented their good practices in these areas. Finnish police representative, Senior Constable Janne Pihlajaniemi demonstrated the use of advanced techniques such as orthomosaic models and laser scanning of the crash sites, which provide highly detailed and precise reconstructions of collision scenes.
With the help of drones and modern equipment, police officers can efficiently gather the necessary information without disrupting traffic for long, while ensuring the site can be revisited digitally.
Esa Räty from OTI in Finland presented the work of the multidisciplinary investigation teams for the in-depth investigation of all fatal collisions and a sample of selected additional crashes, as well as the research-oriented purpose of their work.
He presented the OTI database and explained the use of data for traffic safety research and improvements, stressing the depth and detail of the gathered data. In Finland, the traffic collision database also includes cases of suicides and sudden deaths while driving. The importance of including such data in road safety statistics was discussed, with comparisons drawn between Bulgaria and other EU countries on how road deaths are classified and reported.
Dimitar Michev, Chief of the Traffic Police Department in Bulgaria, presented their procedures for crash investigation, explaining the responsibilities of police officers, the technical equipment used, and the cooperation with other emergency services to ensure efficient investigations.
Later, the discussion between the representatives of the partner countries covered different aspects of police enforcement and police investigation of serious traffic collisions, from the roles of the police officers at the collision site, to enforcement and follow-up of traffic violations.
In the afternoon, the focus moved to driver training, the second area Bulgaria chose as a priority topic in the EURSE project. Participants visited the largest driving school in Sofia, where they had the opportunity to learn about Bulgaria’s framework for driver training.
The country representatives had a chance to discuss and compare similarities and differences in how practical and theory exams are conducted, including the curriculum content, requirements for trainees, the setting of the exams for obtaining a driving licence and general regulations in this area.
The second day of the workshop continued with a focus on driver training. The executive director of the Executive Agency Road Transport Administration Damyan Voinovski outlined the existing driver training framework, including mandatory training hours and training requirements for driving instructors.
He also presented Bulgaria’s recent developments in the digitalisation of driver training, including a recently launched online platform, which should enable authorities to gather more data and insights on ongoing procedures, helping to identify trends and challenges in this field.
Experts from DGT Spain, Pablo García Crespo and Ana Juan Tamayo shared the Spanish experience with practical driver training as well as road safety education. One of the highlighted aspects was Spain’s initiative to create a lifelong road safety education system, beginning with school pupils, continuing through high school and universities, and extending to learner drivers.
It also included efforts to promote awareness and safe and efficient driver training after obtaining a driving license, incentivised by receiving two additional points on the license.
Discussions then covered various topics related to school education curriculum, theoretical and practical training for obtaining the licence, and awareness training. Participants also compared the digital platforms used for keeping the records of learner drivers, a novelty adopted the same month in the Bulgarian system.
Another topic of exchange was the examiner’s role and positioning during practical tests, as Spain requires examiners to sit in the back, a practice Bulgaria is considering adopting to enhance transparency and reduce potential bias.
A presentation by Esa Rätym from OTI, on fit-to-drive risks highlighted concerns regarding young drivers in fatal crashes. The presentation delved into key background risk factors using gathered data, including the analysis of substance dependency and the impact of medical conditions.
The findings revealed that what is often considered a key risk factor, such as a steering mistake, is frequently influenced by fitness-to-drive issues, which could be overlooked without a detailed analysis of all relevant data. This led to discussions on medical and psychological assessments of drivers.
The workshop concluded with a discussion on the ongoing efforts in driver training and road safety education of participating countries, as well as the upcoming challenges that demographic changes will bring.
Participants also emphasised the crucial role of data in evaluating the current road safety situation and identifying the most relevant measures to improve it. Political support for improving road safety was also of high relevance, and was demonstrated by the high-level presence at the meeting.
Five additional workshops are scheduled throughout 2025, with participating countries continuing to collaborate on key road safety topics identified in the project.