Traffic rules in Bulgaria: the driver's framework

Transport · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23

The system first, the rule list second

Most people who take the wheel in a foreign country start with the wrong question: „what is the speed limit?“ On its own that question is too narrow, because what happens to a driver in Bulgaria comes out of three separate layers. The first layer is the STATUTE — the Road Traffic Act is the source of both the rules and the sanctions. The second layer is ENFORCEMENT — a patrol at the roadside, a fixed camera on a gantry, a mobile device inside a police car. The third layer is the RECORD — the breach becomes a document, the document is served, a window for payment or appeal starts running, and the points on your licence go down. Skip any of the three and every penalty feels arbitrary, when in fact the system has worked exactly as written.

This article puts the third layer — the record and its consequences — in the centre. The speed table itself is covered in a separate article, and the winter equipment duty in another one; the job here is to build the frame in which both of those sit.

Where the rule comes from: the Act and its regulations

The Road Traffic Act governs conduct on the road: right of way, use of lanes, lighting, speed, alcohol, vehicle equipment, pedestrian rights, duties after a collision, and administrative sanctions. Beneath the Act sit ministerial regulations (наредби) that make individual provisions operable. The points system is a clear example: the initial number of points and how many are deducted for each offence are set by the Interior Minister's Regulation No. Iз-2539 of 17 December 2012.

Who enforces it

• •Traffic Police (КАТ) within the Ministry of the Interior — the main enforcement body: document checks, alcohol and drug testing, equipment checks and work at the scene of a collision.
• •Fixed automated technical devices — permanently installed speed control systems operating continuously; the sections where they stand are announced in advance.
• •Mobile automated technical devices — units carried in a police vehicle or temporarily placed at the roadside; they can change position during the day.
• •Municipal enforcement — parking and certain urban schemes fall to the municipality. That is a separate sanction track and should not be confused with the traffic police.

Alcohol: the 0.5 per mille threshold

The rule published by the Traffic Police is unambiguous: it is prohibited to drive a road vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.5 per mille and/or after using narcotic substances or their analogues. The threshold is not a tolerance band — the offence arises the moment the measurement exceeds it. Values well above the threshold leave administrative punishment behind and enter criminal law.

The practical conclusion is plain: do not run the „I had one glass and then I slept“ arithmetic. Elimination rates vary by person, by meal and by time, and what is recorded at the roadside is the instrument's reading, not your estimate. There is a procedure for challenging a reading and for requesting a blood sample, but it only works if it is started properly at the scene.

Lights: from 1 November they burn in daylight too

During the winter period, driving in daylight hours must be done with dipped headlights on. The Traffic Police announce the start each year with the „Светлина“ (Light) campaign from 1 November, and enforcement carries sanctions from day one. The duty runs until 1 March. The rule is not exhausted by switching the headlights on — the lighting equipment has to be in working order; a dead brake light or a cracked headlamp lens also falls under this heading.

How the penalty reaches you: two different documents

Sanctioning in Bulgaria runs through two different documents, and the procedure is not the same for both.

With the electronic ticket one detail matters above all: the Act gives the vehicle's owner, or the person to whom the vehicle was provided, a 14-day window from receipt either to pay or to supply the details of the actual offender. That is not a courtesy but the window in which the right can be exercised. If the car is a company car or a rental, the notification chain runs through the lessor — check how that clause is drafted in your contract.

Control points: the invisible balance on your licence

A Bulgarian driving licence carries a points balance. According to the Traffic Police, an initial maximum of 39 control points is set when the licence is issued; new drivers start with 26 and receive 13 more after 24 months of driving experience. Points are deducted for offences, and not only once a penal decree takes effect — an on-the-spot ticket and an electronic ticket from automated speed control also trigger deduction.

• •Recovery works two ways: once a year, after additional training, one third of the initial number is restored; and two years after the last offence the balance is restored ex officio to its initial size.
• •Which offence costs how many points is listed in the schedule to the regulation, on a scale graded by severity.
• •When the balance is exhausted the consequence is not a fine but loss of the right to drive — so the point is not to „manage“ the balance but never to erode it.
• •The balance and any unpaid obligations can be checked through the Ministry of the Interior's electronic services; the query needs your document details.

Do you owe anything: how to check

1. 1

   Open the Ministry of the Interior's electronic services

   The „check of obligations“ service shows, on one screen, liabilities arising from a ticket, a penal decree or a settlement.
2. 2

   Identify the type of document

   Is the entry an on-the-spot ticket, an electronic ticket, or a decree already in force? The deadline and the route of challenge follow from that.
3. 3

   Count the days

   For an electronic ticket the 14-day window runs from service. Once it has expired, naming the driver no longer produces the same result.
4. 4

   Choose the payment channel from the Ministry's page

   The „payment of fines“ section lists the valid methods. Do not pay through third-party sites; the receipt must come from an official channel.
5. 5

   Clear the balance before selling the car or leaving the country

   An unpaid liability surfaces in registration and document procedures, and correcting old records after a transfer is far harder.

If you are involved in a collision

For damage-only incidents with no injuries and with agreement between the parties, a bilateral accident report (двустранен констативен протокол) is completed; it is the foundation of the insurance procedure. Police are called where someone is injured, where the parties disagree, where alcohol is suspected, or where one of the vehicles is foreign-registered. The single European emergency number is 112. Photographs at the scene, the registration numbers and the position of the vehicles shorten every later dispute.

You do not set off without compulsory third-party liability insurance („Гражданска отговорност“). The cost of a collision without it is not the fine but personally bearing the other party's loss. The insurance side is dealt with in a separate article.

How to verify this page today

Road legislation changes often: fine tariffs, the points schedule and enforcement practice can all be updated within a year. The information here is tied to official sources as at 23 August 2026; before travelling or lodging an appeal, confirm the current value on the official page — the full text of the Road Traffic Act published by the Automobile Administration, the Traffic Police pages for practice, and the Ministry's electronic services for outstanding liabilities. That is also why no amounts appear here: the tariff changes, the mechanism stays.

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