site.btaCorruption Causes 44% of Fatalities from Traffic Accidents - Continue the Change Co-Chair Petkov

Continue the Change Co-Chair Kiril Petkov wrote in his Facebook page on Monday morning that the public must stop tolerating corruption, as it is directly corelated to the mortality rate from traffic accidents. According to data collected from 169 countries and quoted by Petkov, every 4-point improvement in the corruption index leads to a reduction in road fatalities by an average of one per 100,000 population.

The data quoted by Petkov suggests that 44% of road casualties can be explained by the level of corruption in a given country, and the more corrupt a country is, the more road fatalities there are. He continued: "This statistic is staggering – corruption turns out to be a more significant factor than weather conditions, driving skills, alcohol use, and all other factors."

The post reads: "The comparisons are telling: Somalia: corruption score - 13/100, road accident deaths - 20 per 100,000 population. Norway: corruption score 85/100, deaths only 1.5 per 100,000 population (13 times lower). Bulgaria: relatively low (poor) corruption score and 5 times more road accident fatalities than Norway."

Thousands gathered outside St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia Sunday for a peaceful protest in memory of the 12-year-old Bulgarian child killed in a car crash on March 31. The event was held under the slogan “We are Siyana!” [the name of the child].