“The success of the children’s drawing contest ‘Safe Roads’, with the involvement of so many children and educational institutions, is a clear sign that the topic of road safety is truly important for our society and that our efforts in this area must continue,” emphasized Nina Kolchakova, Secretary General of the Association of Bulgarian Insurers (ABZ), in an interview for the program Our Day on BNR, February 4, 2025. She noted that such scope and engagement from children, parents, and teachers are unique for initiatives of this kind.
The contest, organized by ABZ in partnership with the Guarantee Fund and the General Directorate “National Police” of the Ministry of Interior, received around 10,000 drawings from approximately 4,300 children representing more than 900 schools and kindergartens across the country. In their works, children illustrated both correct and incorrect situations on the road. The contest is a continuation of ABZ’s popular “Safe Roads” initiative, based on the educational test of the same name, which has already been used over 100,000 times in road-safety activities with children. Through their participation, the children become its “co-authors”.
“We have so many talented children—their drawings are wonderful and full of ideas. For us, as organizers, it was an extraordinary experience to step into their world and see road situations through their eyes,” shared Nina Kolchakova. All drawings were showcased in a unique online gallery, freely accessible on ABZ’s website. According to her, this public visibility itself is seen as a reward and source of pride by the children, their teachers, and parents. The main goal of the contest—to spark conversations with children about road safety through art—was clearly achieved, as evidenced by hundreds of positive responses from teachers and parents. They noted that the initiative gave children the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity while becoming more conscious, attentive, and careful participants in road traffic.
ABZ’s commitment to road safety is no coincidence. “Because of the very nature of our profession, we encounter human suffering every day, we empathize, and we help. Road-safety initiatives are one of the ways we strive to make a positive impact, and we will continue to develop and enrich them,” stressed Nina Kolchakova. She added that children remain the main focus: on one hand, they are the most vulnerable road users, and on the other, it is in early childhood that habits of following traffic rules are best instilled.
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