Road accidents are becoming more frequent, and among the accidents, those involving pedestrians are definitely impressive. In the last few days, a series of similar cases have drawn attention. And statistics show that the greater number of accidents is observed mainly in the big cities of the country. This provoked the correspondents of NOVA to check the condition of the pedestrian crossings.
A few days ago a truck hit and killed a pedestrian on “Todor Alexandrov“ Blvd. in Sofia. A pedestrian is concussed after a crash in a Montana village. In Ruse, a car hit a mother with two children on the sidewalk. And all these incidents happened within a few days this week. Here's the state of the pedestrian crossings in some of the most heart-attack places in the country.
The inspection starts from one of the most dangerous pedestrian crossings in Sofia on Tsar Boris III Blvd.. Traffic to Pernik passes through here, as do hundreds of pedestrians every day. In 12 months, there have been three accidents with four injured people. And there is a school just a few meters away.
A sign that there is a pedestrian crossing is missing. The markings are worn out and the pavement is wavy. According to the Center for Transport Policies, if no changes are made, the incidents will continue.
The next heart attack point is the pedestrian crossing in front of the market in the residential area “Krasno Selo“. In the last 12 months, three accidents with three injuries have occurred on this pedestrian crossing. Right at the beginning of the crossing there are two containers that hide pedestrians.
On Wednesday, an elderly woman died in an accident in the center of Sofia meters from a school.
After Sofia, the most pedestrians died on the streets in Plovdiv. On Wednesday, a 19-year-old driver hit and sent an elderly woman to the hospital. The most dangerous pedestrian crossing is closed to traffic. Currently, the closest place to cross is the underpass of the Central Station or another pedestrian crossing 150 meters away. But for some, this distance is a long way.
The seaside capital is also included in the black statistics. Last year alone, in Varna, there were more than 180 cases of injured pedestrians. The Ministry of Interior reports that the main reasons are both the risky behavior of those crossing and drivers who do not follow the rules.
Pedestrians in Varnapoint to temperamental drivers as the main culprit. “Many driversare not tolerant.”For example, one stops, the next one does not stop, and even on a pedestrian crossing, sometimes it becomes impossible to cross. They do not wait long enough. You have to run, run. Similarly, at traffic lights“, points out the city resident Tsvetelina Dimitrova.
“Statistics over the past year show that a total of 181 road accidents occurred, in which two people died and 182 were injured. Specialized police operations are periodically carried out precisely in this type of violation“, said Senior Inspector Dimitar Dimitrov from the Traffic Police - Varna.
Fines for improper crossing are between 20 and 50 leva. However, this obviously does not stop violators. “A total of 2,110 pedestrians were sanctioned in the past year 2024, and from the beginning of 2025 to the present, a total of 203 people have been sanctioned“, adds the police officer.