Human Rights organization "Driver`s Friend": ban on right-hand drive cars - nothing more than a regular business project

ArmInfo. Initiators of the  development of the program providing for the implementation of a ban  on import and exploitation of right-hand cars in Armenia are likely  to be large importers of vehicles. On this, answering the question of  ArmInfo, October 9 at a press conference deputy chairman of the human  rights organization Driver's Friend, David Pedanyan said. According  to him, the initiative should also be considered in the context of  the business project of those who, as a result of the ban, will deal  with the technical side of the issue, namely, the conversion of cars  from the right to the left hand.

According to Pedanyan, at the moment there is no official statistics  in Armenia about the road accident involving right-hand cars.  Proceeding from this, the expert considers cunning as the fact that  the motivation for this idea is indicated by the fact that the  movement in Armenia is not provided for right-hand drive vehicles,  and therefore a large number of accidents occur with the  participation of such cars. Referring to the words of deputy head of  the RA Police Armen Khachatryan, David Pedanyan noted that there is  nothing like this. "The left hand cars rudder is probably more  convenient especially on overtaking, however, for example, when  parking, obviously the advantage of the right hand rudder, where the  zone of visibility is greater," said Pedanian.

At the moment, as the expert said, the initiative will hit more than  35% of drivers' pockets. That is how much, according to unofficial  data, is the number of right-hand drive cars in the republic. "The  owners of these vehicles purchased vehicles mainly because of  availability and, initiating this project, they create an additional  and unreasonable financial burden for them, especially since the  price of the issue is $ 700- 1000," he said. The talk about banning  right-handed vehicles resumed with new strength recently.  According  to the rumored rumors, a new impetus to this initiative was given by  large importers of cars, which "opened their eyes" to officials for  the danger of these vehicles. It was on the results of these meetings  that the Ministry of Transport started new discussions in this  direction with the participation of all interested parties. As the  minister of transport, communications and information technologies  Vahan Martirosyan recently stated in the Armenian parliament, such  cars are dangerous, since many traffic accidents are recorded with  their participation (although no official statistics have been  submitted to this effect so far). "In this regard, we intend to  settle this issue at the legislative level, that is, to prohibit the  import and exploitation of cars with right-hand drive in Armenia.  However, the owners of cars with the right-hand drive will be given  time to replace the location of the rudder," said the head of the  Ministry of Transport. He announced that all importers will be given  time to correct the position of the rudder on the left-hand side. As  the Ministry of Transport told ArmInfo, the department is not the  initiator of a possible draft law and at the moment there is no  decision or bill on this issue. "Only discussions are underway,"  press secretary of the ministry Anahit Arakelyan said. Nevertheless,  there are a number of documents within the framework of the EEU,  which can stimulate the adoption of a ban on the import and use of  right- hand drive vehicles. We are talking about the technical  regulations of the Customs Union of the EEU, the provisions of which  began to operate from 2015 on the territory of Russia, Kazakhstan and  Belarus. And it turns out that according to the technical  regulations, such machines simply can not pass the inspection. As the  Russian media reported, from January 1, 2017, private motorists, as  well as the legal entity, will not be able to obtain vehicles for the  import of used cars at the Customs office for new vehicle safety  certificates.  The reason for the refusal is the absence in the  imported cars of the Russian emergency response system ERA-GLONASS.  In addition to Russia, this applies to Belarus and Kazakhstan. A  physical person will not actually be able to bring into the territory  of the Union countries a car not equipped with an emergency call  button. There is no discount for cars from the secondary market.  There is talk that the introduction of the "Era-GLONASS" in Armenia  is "just around the corner". In any case, the company is interested  in this.  And, most importantly, from January 1, 2018, the customs  standards of the EEU will fully enter into force throughout the  Union, and new restrictions can be expected in Armenia.