Protecting the lives and health of children in traffic is one of the top priorities of our society. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Dimitar Nedyalkov during the opening of the road safety campaign "I will be a responsible driver".
"It is extremely important for all of us, parents and teachers, to ensure safe routes to schools, kindergartens and playgrounds," the deputy minister stressed. He urged the final year students, who are about to undergo training and examinations to become drivers, to be responsible both during training and on the road because human life is precious.
"Last year over 950 young drivers were involved in serious road accidents, with fatalities accounting for over 11% of the total for the year. This is a staggering statistic and in this regard all of us together must change it", Dimitar Nedyalkov stressed. He recalled that the Ministry of Transport and Communications had taken concrete measures to improve the environment and approach to driver training, one of the steps being the upgrade of the information system and the replacement of paper documents with electronic ones. The test version of the system is now ready and has been presented to the industry organisations. "This will lead to more transparency and ensure that the curriculum is followed and students get the full number of hours so that prepared drivers are on the road," the deputy minister said.
Participating in the launch of the campaign were the Minister of Education and Science prof. Galin Tsokov, the director of 18 "William Gladstone" School Ralitsa Kirilova, the mayor of "Vazrazhdane" district Stanislav Iliev, the deputy head of the Traffic Police Department in the General Directorate of the National Police Commissioner Maria Boteva and the head of the Regional Department of Education - Sofia-city Vanya Kastreva.
The initiative is implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science in cooperation with the association "SC "Autotzar Rally" and Ilia Tsarsky. The campaign will take place in schools in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo and Varna, and will include trainings in the form of a travelling seminar, including a theoretical (interactive) and demonstration part, in which students, teachers, parents, representatives of the local community and the media will participate.
