As many as 655 people lied down on the square of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in downtown Sofia to kick off a major campaign aimed at the prevention of road incidents.

The number - 655 people - was chosen deliberately: this is also the number of victims of road incidents across Bulgaria in the past year.

"We want to show how many [people died]," Vlado Todorov, from the Bulgarian Association of People Injured in Crashes, is quoted by the BGNES news agency as saying.

Themed 7 Million Reasons to Drive Reasonably, the campaign seeks to raise awareness for the fact that unreasonable drivers take a huge toll every year, claiming lives of adults and children (33 in 2014) alike.

The organizers from the association say the title has to reflect that each citizens of Bulgaria (whose population numbers roughly 7 million) is a reason to drive carefully.