I don't feel safe in my own country

It was August 8, 2009 when I had to drive long distance alone for the first time.

It was eleven-thirty on Saturday when I unwittingly took the right of way of a taxi near the big intersection at the Romanian Embassy in Sofia. But since the traffic was not heavy and the road there is wide and there was room for every car, I just turned on the hazard lights to apologize, as the informal traffic rules in Bulgaria dictate and stopped as a first car in the left lane to make a left turn.

But apparently this was not enough for the taxi driver.

He accelerated, drove into the opposite lane, and stopped across my car to prevent me from starting after the traffic light turned green. For a moment I felt like a participant in an American action movie.

The taxi driver got out of the car shouting and cursing. He tried to open the door of my car, but since it was locked, this made him even angrier. Then he started pounding on the glass of the door, trying to break it. I was so shocked that I was only repeating behind the glass: “But I apologized to you. But I apologized to you...”

For a while he kept screaming, cursing and banging on the glass, and when he got tired and convinced that he couldn't get me out of the car to beat me up, he got back in his car and left, clearing the way in front of me.

All this time, the traffic lights at this large intersection changed several times, and streams of cars passed us several times. However, no one got out of their car to ask why this man was screaming and trying to beat up a tiny young woman….a girl.

Continuing on my way, for a long time after that I was constantly looking in the rear-view mirror, as I had the feeling that someone was chasing me. And about 170 km. away, my car crashed into a road sign, went over it and hit a concrete pillar.

My car was a total loss, but I was alive.

It is still a mystery to me what caused this severe accident. And how I survived. Well, the answer to the first question might be that I was too stressed to continue on my way calmly and unhindered after the incident at the crossroads.

....

It is August 10, 2020. It's Monday, eleven o'clock when I am walking down the streets of my hometown.

Don’t ask me why I’m not driving any more. 😎🚗

I am near a very busy and dangerous intersection when I’m hearing the whistling of brakes, the slamming of a car door, screams and swearing.

The shouts are so loud and aggressive that it didn't even come into my mind to pull out my phone and take pictures in time.

It is a déjà vu. 11 years later.

The situation is identical. The one driver refuses to get out of his car, while the other driver, along with his female passenger are shouting and cursing with unbelievable aggression.

When they get tired, they get back in their car and traffic at the intersection resumes.

And it wasn't until the shouts stopped that I came to my senses and turned on my phone's camera.

This is a filtered snapshot from my late and distant video showing the aggressive driver getting in his car in the middle of the intersection.

...

When I decided to leave my country in 2012, Bulgaria, or at least Sofia, was known for the fact that if you fall on the street, no one would lend you a hand to help you stand up.

8 years later, apparently things have not changed.

I do not wish any of you to experience this feeling of helplessness when you see that you are not protected in your own country. There are so many aggressive people here who wake up in the morning with the intention of finding someone to beat them up. And eventually they find this person – a woman, a child, an animal, or a weaker man.

This is how we live here. 🇧🇬