Children must wear safety vest when cycling

In Bulgaria, children younger than 14 who ride a bicycle need to wear safety helmets and reflective safety vests, and this is about to turn into a new legislative requirement.

As the road accidents happen frequently among children, but parents do not realize how dangerous it is to let a child cycle without a helmet or clothing with reflective tape. They do not realize how dangerous it is for a child to be unprotected at the back seat when going to holiday. They do not realize that 70% of all these 33 children who die each year [in road accidents in Bulgaria] and of the thousands others who sustain injuries were unprotected passengers namely owing to our negligence and not being aware of dangers. Parents need to exert more control over their children and consider road safety training as important as what children study at school.

Wearing the safety clothing is the first step, more important, parents should improve the awareness of safety issue among children too.