Speed limits and automated speed control in Bulgaria

Transport · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23

Four values, one table

The Act ties the speeds a driver must not exceed to a table expressed in km/h. The table is split by vehicle category; the row for the ordinary passenger car is set out below. Combinations with a trailer, buses and heavy goods vehicles have their own rows with lower values — only the car row, verified against the official text, is written here.

Motorway or expressway: telling them apart

The commonest mistake among drivers arriving from abroad is to treat the two as one. A motorway has full access control, no at-grade junctions and separated carriageways; the ceiling for a car is 140. An expressway also has separated carriageways but is not built to motorway standard; the ceiling is 120. The signs differ in colour and symbol. Twenty kilometres per hour is a very short distance from lawful to penalised in front of a camera.

In the same way, where a built-up area begins is decided by the sign, not by the density of houses. A few buildings along the road do not lower the limit — passing the sign does. The reverse holds too: you cannot accelerate to 90 because you have passed the last house; you need to see the struck-through version of the sign.

Enforcement: fixed and mobile automated devices

The Traffic Police use automated technical devices (АТСС) for speed enforcement and, on their own pages, divide them into two groups: fixed devices are permanently installed at specific points and measure continuously; mobile devices sit in a police vehicle or are placed temporarily at the roadside and can move during the day. Sections with fixed devices are announced; do not build the same expectation around mobile ones.

• •A record from an automated device produces an electronic ticket, which goes not to the driver but to the vehicle's registered keeper.
• •The Act gives the keeper, or the person to whom the vehicle was provided, 14 days from receipt either to pay or to name the actual offender.
• •Electronic tickets for speeding are issued in a distinct series; the series on the document shows which type of breach was recorded.
• •A camera-recorded breach does not bring a fine alone — according to the Traffic Police, control points are deducted for such breaches as well.

Why no fine amounts appear on this page

Speeding penalties change with amendments to the law and with tariff updates, and they also vary by the band of the excess, by whether it happened in a built-up area, and by the driver's record. Writing down an unverified or fast-ageing figure would send the reader into a wrong calculation. What stands here instead lasts longer: which document is issued, how the deadline runs, how points are lost, and where the liability is checked. For the current amount, see the Ministry of the Interior's own information page on speeding penalties.

The second rule that governs speed

The Act does not only set a ceiling — it also requires the driver to match speed to road, weather, visibility and traffic conditions. In practice: on a foggy morning, 90 km/h on a road posted at 90 may comply with the sign yet breach the rule. After a collision, „the sign said 90“ is not enough on its own. In winter this rule has to be read together with the winter equipment duty.

• •Rain, ice, fog and night visibility are the classic conditions that require speed to come down.
• •In roadworks, temporary signs take precedence over permanent ones and a breach is processed in exactly the same way.
• •Around schools, pedestrian crossings and stops, anticipatory driving is expected even where no sign stands.
• •A trailer or a loaded vehicle lengthens the braking distance; the Act's category table carries lower values for such combinations.

If a penalty arrives: the order of steps

1. 1

   Identify the type of document

   An on-the-spot ticket, an electronic ticket, or a penal decree already in force? The deadline and the route of challenge follow from that.
2. 2

   Count the 14-day window on an electronic ticket

   The period runs from service. If someone else was driving that day, they must be named within this window.
3. 3

   Verify the record in the Ministry's electronic services

   The „check of obligations“ service shows tickets, decrees and settlements. A record that never reached you can surface here.
4. 4

   Account for the loss of control points

   Speeding is not only a payment but a reduction of the balance. If your balance is low, plan the additional training and the two-year clean period now.
5. 5

   Pay through the official channel

   The Ministry's page lists the valid methods. Third-party sites blur the origin of the payment document, and that hurts if you later need to challenge it.

Foreign plates and rental cars

Because the camera's record attaches to the vehicle, the penalty goes first to the registered keeper. For a rental that is the rental company; it names you, and most contracts add an administration fee for doing so. With foreign plates, cross-border service can run through EU information exchange; the assumption „I have left the country, nothing will arrive“ is not a safe one. Checking for open liabilities before you leave is the cheapest possible solution.

How to verify these values today

The four values here rest on the table in Article 21 of the Road Traffic Act and were taken from an official publication on 23 August 2026. The table in the Act can change, and on any specific road the sign always governs. Before travelling, confirm the current value on the official page: the full text of the Act published by the Automobile Administration, the Traffic Police pages for enforcement and penalties, and the Ministry's electronic services for outstanding liabilities.

Frequently asked questions

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