Rossen Jeliazkov: We elaborate a new Road Traffic Act, which consolidates all the opinions and texts discussed so far

We are working on a new Road Traffic Act that will consolidate all the views and texts discussed so far. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a roundtable on "Drive smart, get alive", organized by the 24 Hours newspaper.

"The new law needs to be adopted taking into account different opinions, but the state, sooner or later, has to enforce its will, because not all interests can be satisfied equally. I expect the new law to be passed within the mandate of this Parliament. The executive power is committed to drafting the texts and proposing them for public discussion," said Rossen Jeliazkov.

The minister said that so far, three new laws were being worked on - the Road Traffic Act, the Road Vehicles Act and the Motor Vehicle Drivers Act. "We have reached a consensus that there is no need to fragment the legislation, but to consolidate and codify it. The view of all parties involved in the process is that it is better to have a single legislation governing road safety relations. This makes it easier for law enforcement, administrative and criminal activity, as well as for the creation of secondary legislation. We are beginning to create a new Road Traffic Act that will consolidate all the views and texts discussed so far. We are not starting from scratch, so far we have done about 80%, it remains to consolidate the texts so as to prevent fragmentation of the legislation. It is important to reflect current public relations, their regulation and effective law enforcement," said Rossen Jeliazkov.

According to him, one of the important topics that needs to be addressed with the new law is improving driver training to be prepared for the challenges of the road. "We are currently tasked with the state as a controlling entity doing its utmost to improve control in the conduct of theoretical and practical exams. Regarding the theoretical exams with the equipment of the examination halls and with the introduction of new technical means, we guarantee to the utmost the transparency and honesty of the exam. Regarding the theoretical exams with the equipment of the examination halls and with the introduction of new technical means, we guarantee to the utmost the transparency and honesty of the exam. We are also working to improve control in the practical exam. The option is now being considered for uploading exams on a dedicated platform, where they can be broadcast online in real time. Of course, this will comply with the rules on personal data protection. In this way, on the one hand, we will have the opportunity to control the test subjects, on the other hand, we will have a look at the real skills and knowledge of the test subjects," the Minister added.