On 8th of May 2013 from 10 to 18 o’clock in the “Metropol” cinema hall in Vratsa "Open Youth" and the Municipality of Vratsa will carry out a joint training of local young people to promote their responsible behavior not only on the road, but also in life.

Representatives of “Open Youth” will present to the young people different risks, they may face on the road, in the framework of interactive presentation, giving live examples in parallel through driving simulator, recreating risky driving situations; the entire spectrum of alco- and drugvision goggles, simulating vision under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and what is the effect on human capabilities; and specially designed weight calculator, showing everyone how heavy his/her body is in a collision with a given speed (50, 90 or 130 km/h). After the presentation, the young people will have the opportunity to “jump” into risky situations personally by using those tools. In addition they will have the opportunity to learn about their European rights through an original comic book that explains their fundamental rights as citizens of the European Union and the way in which they can complain to the European Ombudsman. The book will be distributed free of charge to those who answer eight questions related to these rights. The collected responses will be analyzed and compared at a later stage with the results of the same questionnaire, but given to young people from the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary. The comic book can already be downloaded for free from the website of the UPDATE project (http://update.open-youth.org) on a computer and to all devices using Android or iOS operating system.

The action is part of a series of initiatives that will be held in different Bulgarian cities, combining messages about responsible driving behavior and understanding the civil rights of the individual citizen. For the implementation in Vratsa a team of five volunteers from municipality will be trained. It is realized in the framework of the project UPDATE (Unveiling European Union citizenship rights through Powerful messages, Developed in Attractive Technological Environment). The project is co-funded by the European Commission within the "Europe for Citizens" programme, Action 2.3. The action is also part of our contribution to the Second UN Global Road Safety Week and the Global Youth Traffic Safety Month 2013 – an initiative of NOYS, USA.