The ‘Best Young Driver’ campaign is a safe driving contest, organised by the Union of Bulgarian Automobilists (UAB), for Bulgarian drivers under the age of 26. Supported by the FIA, it aims to raise awareness on road safety among young drivers as they are the most vulnerable on the road. Indeed, according to traffic police data, one crash out of three in Bulgaria involves a driver with less than 2 years of experience behind the wheel.

The competition was organised in two rounds. First, 3,500 young people aged between 19 and 26 took part in an online test, whose questions were similar to those of the state driver’s education test. Then, the 30 participants which had the best results and had never received traffic penalties continued on to the second round: practical tests.

The winner of the competition was Andrey Anastasov, a 19-year old from the village of Hristo Danovo. “Many thanks to the Union of Bulgarian Automobilists and all those who helped with organising this campaign. It’s the only one which encourages young drivers to behave better on the road.” – said Andrey. FIA Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism Andrew McKellar, gave a short speech at the award-giving ceremony to encourage young people to follow key safety rules while driving. 

In the future, all 30 finalists will become UAB’s Road Safety ambassadors and will take part in different events promoting road safety throughout the year.