Bulgaria Remembers Traffic Accident Victims

Bulgaria marks Sunday the International Day of Victims of Traffic Accidents with a mass at the Sofia "Sveti Sedmochislenitsi" church and a number of other events.

Volunteers of the Bulgarian Red Cross are handing brochures to passerby all day.

An installation in remembrance for the victims will be mounted in front of electronic counter of traffic accidents at the Military Medical Academy in downtown Sofia.

Automobile processions will be held in several cities.

The happenings are organized by the State-public Consultative Committee on Traffic Safety Problems, the Traffic Police, the Union of Bulgarian Automobilists, the "Tale about the Road" Foundation, and the Bulgarian Association of Traffic Accident Victims.

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims takes place on the third Sunday in November every year as the appropriate acknowledgment of victims of road traffic crashes and their families.

In 1993, the first day of remembrance was organized by RoadPeace. In 1995 the General Assembly of European Federation of Road Traffic Victims added its support and by 1998 the event was being held in a number of countries including Argentina, Australia, Israel, South Africa, and Trinidad in addition to the United Kingdom. The World Health Organization added its support in 2003 and in 2005 the United Nations General Assembly invited all nations to observe the day 'as the appropriate acknowledgment of victims of road traffic crashes and their families.

Statistics show that at least one Bulgarian dies on the road every day.

Since the beginning of 2012, 513 died and over 6 000 have been injured in traffic accidents in Bulgaria, compared to 776 and 8 078 in 2010 and 586 and 7 527 in 2011, respectively.