Appeal of the National Council of the Religious Communities in the Republic of Bulgaria

Dear compatriots,

Dear brothers and sisters,

On 20^th of November, 2016 once again NCRCB together with many state institutions and NGOs is going to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. In all religious temples in Bulgaria will be read requiescats for the souls of the dead 593 people only from January till September this year and service for health and quick recovery of 7942 people injured in road accidents.

The figures are startling and they themselves speak about the horror of this silent war on the roads of our country. During the first 10 months of 2016 there are 121 dead people in road accidents and 2352 injured youth participants in the traffic on the roads (15-29 years old).

It is hard to imagine the tragedy which the families of each of these young people experience. It is hard to imagine the temporal consequences of the so early and senseless cut off lives of the young people, how many future geniuses, wonderful doctors, engineers, artists, painters, and writers lost their chance to leave indelible mark in the Bulgarian reality and history, to contribute to the development and prosperity of our country.

And if we ask ourselves who is to blame for this then the answer is very simple. We all are to blame, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, our entire society, because we fail to educate our children to be responsible on the road, to keep themselves and the others. Because the education starts from the personal example of the parents, because we are the ones who show their children our responsibility or irresponsibility with our behavior on the road.

Have you ever thought how many times when going out in the morning to bring the children to school or kindergarten instead of concentrating on the traffic, we start in the same time while driving to set our navigation, to talk on the phone, to look for our cigarettes, to apply make-up in the mirror or to argue with our husband or wife forgetting that on the backseat we are riding our child. And the responsibility for it and for the others on the road is only ours and the example which we give with our behavior on the road remains embedded in the conscience of our children as a model of behavior for them!

Dear brothers and sisters,

Every time sitting behind the wheel, clear your mind of the problems and the troubles, concentrate on the traffic and pray for a moment to God to keep you and to lead to where you have started. Because we all know that God loves and keeps us, but the steering wheel is in our hands and we are those who have to hold it tightly. Because we are responsible to Him for the life of our children and families, for the life of everyone around us.

May God be with you on the road and let the next year on this day only to thank Him for giving wit and understanding in our heads and to have an occasion to pray only for health and not to make requiescat! God bless you!