12-Year-Old Girl Prevents Crash on Struma Motorway

The child managed to control the car, steer it towards the emergency lane and call 112. Thanks to her calm reaction, a serious incident was prevented.

When the police reached the car at the 14th kilometre of the Struma motorway, it had already stopped in the emergency lane. The girl, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, took control of the vehicle, holding the steering wheel with her left hand, then pressed the vehicle’s start-stop button. The engine shut off, but the car continued moving by inertia. Throughout the incident, the child remained in constant contact with the 112 operators, allowing law enforcement officers to receive real-time information about what was happening on the road.

Traffic police officers from the Pernik Regional Directorate of the Interior arrived at the scene minutes after the signal was submitted. The initial information was limited — it was reported only that a 12-year-old child was driving a white car because her mother had fallen ill. A Traffic Police patrol from Pernik arrived at the 14th kilometre of the motorway and found the car already stopped in the emergency lane.

The officers stressed that the child could not explain how she knew exactly what to do. Most likely, she acted entirely on instinct and kept her composure in a critical situation in which many adults would have panicked. They called the girl a hero and said they had expected the worst, but fortunately the case ended with no injuries.