Society must take responsibility for Siyana’s death. Let us clearly realize that with all our behavior, we have allowed our roads to be left in an unsightly state and have let drivers do whatever they want. Most likely, there were cases in which we kept quiet about something or there were cases in which we could have done more, but we did not do them. This was stated by Diana Rusinova from the “European Center for Transport Policies” in the program “From the Day” on BNT, quoted by novini.bg.
Sharing grief is something normal and human, which we must express and support all families who have lost a loved one in a ridiculous road accident. The more important role of citizens is to demand that our right to road safety be protected by the state, she added the expert.
„I have often asked myself whether there should be resignations? Rather, at the moment the more responsible thing is to ask those people who want to be there to do their job. The important and essential thing at this moment is to ask for normal roads”, she pointed out.
This section is not in good operating condition. This is a road that has not seen good maintenance for too long. We really need to talk about what are the criteria by which we evaluate a road section. I encourage society to clearly realize that in the last 4 years there has been no real maintenance of the roads by the republican road infrastructure. There was winter maintenance because we cannot do without it. According to the Road Traffic Act, the government is responsible first, second – the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, third, as a budget authorizing officer – RIA. I cannot name a specific person, because in 4 years they have changed a lot. In these 4 years the roads were abandoned without any maintenance. The vegetation must be cleaned, the road markings checked, the worst thing is the patching of potholes, explained Rusinova.
In her words, there must be reform and the roads must be made so that people do not die on them.
There is not a single institution that does its job. We are very keen on partnership with the state, but there is none. State policy is to justify ourselves and do nothing, noted the representative of the "European Center for Transport Policies". “We are 6 million. How many children can we afford to lose?”, she asked.
Rusinova urged: „We need to stop with the accusations and sit down to find real solutions. My colleagues and I will inspect the section and give specific proposals on how to fix things. I ask the Minister of Regional Development to say where the problem is and why we cannot build the „Hemus” motorway. We need to build it. Northern Bulgaria cannot have a motorway, it passes through villages. This is road terrorism”.
„Let's see where these bags of money are and what is the reason for not building it. Let those responsible come out, look at the parents of those who died on the road and tell them that their children died because there was no money”, she pointed out.
„First, an assessment of the real condition of the roads must be made, a budget must be made, a long-term program must be made to repair and build roads, and the analysis under the EU directive on safe infrastructure must be deepened. Bulgaria is one of the few countries that has not made a passportization of road signs, the next step is the renewal of the road fleet, equipping ambulances and the fight against drunk and drugged drivers, as well as swift justice. The biggest problem is arrogance on the road”, Diana Rusinova explained.