"There are more and more drivers coming from the east, from Romania and Bulgaria, who travel through Slovenia to get to Italy. Because of that we have more traffic problems. They stop on highways and go out of their cars without safety vests. There is more and more of this ‘headless driving' on our highways," warned Ulrich Zorin, the head of traffic management and safety at Dars (Slovenian Motorway Company), talking to MMC.

"Very often more cars stop together to look at maps, talk, drink, eat or smoke. They behave as if they were on some local road," added Zorin.
Rest areas are for rest, not highways
On Monday a man driving a tank truck hit two Romanian cars, which were parked on the emergency lane. The tragic accident has brought the issue of safety on Slovenia's roads to the forefront.

The slow lane (right lane) on a highway is intended for those driving at a slower speed. Driving is not allowed on the emergency lane, which is clearly divided from the driving lanes with a white line. The emergency lane is intended for making emergency stops. The alternative to emergency lanes are emergency refuge areas (like for example on the A5 highway in the Pomurje region) and serve the same purpose – for making stops in cases of emergency. There are refuge areas after every 2km, or in some cases even less.

The emergency lanes and emergency refuge areas are not intended for rest, but only for making emergency stops (vehicle malfunction, accidents, weakness etc). Dars warns that only official rest areas along the highway are intended for making rest stops. Drivers traveling through Slovenia, for example from Hungary to Italy, can stop at 16 rest areas along the 305km of highways and expressways between Pince and Vrtojba.