The committee on internal security and public order has backed changes to the road traffic law at first reading. The bill was put forward by Neli Andreeva of Progressive Bulgaria and a group of MPs.

The aim is to make roads safer, clear up contradictions in the law and make sure officers check drivers the same way every time, Emil Denkov of Progressive Bulgaria told the committee. That way, he said, the authorities will also make better use of the tools they already have.

One change targets heavy trucks. Vehicles weighing more than 12 tonnes will have to stay in the right-hand lane on motorways and expressways with two lanes each way. They won't be allowed into the left lane even to overtake, Denkov said.

Another change lets ambulance crews skip their seatbelts, but only while they're checking on, treating or helping a patient. The same will apply to police officers — only while they're carrying out a specific job, Denkov added.

There's also a change for driving licences. When a foreign licence is swapped for a Bulgarian one, only the categories the driver actually passed a test for will be recognised.

The evidential breath analyser is being dropped as a way to double-check suspected alcohol use. Roadside checks will still rely on a medical exam and a blood test.

The last set of changes covers whether cars are roadworthy. A car will be taken off the road on the spot if it has different-sized tyres on the same axle, badly slashed tyres, or other problems found during a check.

The interior ministry backs the bill. "We support this bill in principle," said Biliana Stoykova, chief legal adviser in the law-drafting department of the ministry's legal affairs directorate.

Besides the bill it passed, the committee looked at and turned down seven other proposed changes to the same law. Two came from Yordan Ivanov of Democratic Bulgaria and a group of MPs, another two from Bozhidar Bozhanov, also of Democratic Bulgaria. One bill each was put forward by Maria Dimitrova of GERB-SDS, Ivo Mihaylov of We Continue the Change, and Halil Letifov of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

Bozhidar Bozhanov, deputy head of the Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group, said all their proposals aimed to cut red tape for drivers. "We're easing things for drivers in different ways — dropping stickers, dropping the engine number from the registration certificate, online records, more transparency," he said.

Hristo Terziyski of GERB-SDS spoke about a bill put forward by his own group. Under it, anyone riding a personal electric vehicle would need at least a category AM driving licence. That way, he said, riders of these vehicles would have to take proper courses, get certified and learn the traffic rules.