The national campaign "Save 200 human lives! Use your seatbelt!" started across Bulgaria on Wednesday.

The campaign is aimed at drivers who disregard their personal safety by not using seatbelts. The initiative has been organized by the Interior Ministry, the national police, the traffic police and the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

"Although police checks are regular practice during the summer period, people drive extremely recklessly," said Mariana Kostadinova, traffic police press secretary. This leads to accidents reaching a critical level in the summer. There have been 99 deaths in August and 651 since the beginning of the year.

Most of the severe injuries in such accidents are due to the unwillingness of drivers to use seatbelts. It is reported that only for per cent of Bulgarian drivers regularly fasten their seatbelts, compared to 70 per cent of EU citizens.

The traffic police are going to give out safety information to drivers. They are being supported by Shell, the Bulgarian Chauffeurs Union, and car-importing firms. They will demonstrate the advantages of using seatbelts by explaining the potential consequences of driving without them.

Police information states that if a car is moving at 40 km/h and crashes into a stationary object the passenger will feel the same impact as he would if he fell from the third floor of a building. A seatbelt would lessen potential injuries by half. The media is also being urged to announce data from traffic police statistics, so that the public can see for themselves the tragically high number of accidents this year.

Representatives of the traffic police will also insist on severe fines for people that do not use seatbelts. The current fine is five leva. It is expected that stricter laws will be proposed in Parliament.

The regional department of the Interior Ministry in Sofia is starting an initiative for greater safety for students. They are going to inspect the districts around the schools and check if all the necessary road signs are in place.

Policemen will make reports with recommendations for the safety of children. These will be given to school principals in order to encourage students to be more aware when they are crossing streets. Wearing brighter clothes and reflective stripes would also insure greater safety explained a representative from the traffic police.

Although such campaigns have a limited duration, the organizers hope that the public will pay serious consideration to their appeal to use seatbelts. "Using seatbelts could save drivers' lives in most cases," explained Colonel Alexi Kiseliakov, head of the traffic police.