Successful ERF Seminar in Sofia on exchanging road safety best practices
On 22nd of February, together with the Bulgarian Branch Association Road Safety (BBARS), the ERF co-organised a road safety event in Sofia, with the support of the Bulgarian Branch Chamber “Roads”.
The event presented an exceptional opportunity for an audience of more than 200 participants to receive state of the art information and exchange experiences on road safety with experts from leading global companies of the road sector. Among the participants, there were representatives of Bulgarian public authorities, road equipment manufacturers, road project designers and road engineers.
Eng. Lazar Lazarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Road Infrastructure Agency introduced the event by presenting the Bulgarian national road network, as well as the priorities of the Road Safety Agency in terms of road safety for the construction of the motorway and highway network in Bulgaria.
During the day, participants had the opportunity to be presented with the current status of the implementation of EU policies and the development of national strategies related to road safety. The event addressed different topics, e.g. the implementation of the EN 1317 (in relation with road restraint systems), the importance of other road infrastructure safety elements such as markings, signs and safety on work zones, or different approaches for financing the construction and maintenance of the road network.
The seminar was concluded by Mr Nikolay Ivanov, Chairman of BBARS and Mr Christophe Nicodème, ERF Director General who thanked the local organisers, supporters and sponsors of the event and highlighted the common concern of all participants to improve road safety in Bulgaria. Undoubtedly, in these times of budget restrictions and financial uncertainties, there is a need to look for all possible forms of financing the road infrastructure. Any lack of investment in building and maintaining a sufficient and performing road infrastructure would mean loosing an essential social and economic asset and compromising on mobility and safety.
Proceedings of the event