Armenia will ban import of right-hand cars

ArmInfo. The importation of  right-hand cars into Armenia will soon be banned. This was reported  by   ArmInfo sources at  the Ministry of Transport, Communications  and Information Technologies of Armenia.  "The bill, which provides  for a ban on the importation of right-handed vehicles into the  republic, rather than their operation, will soon be submitted for  approval by the Government of Armenia," a source in the ministry  said. It is planned that by mid-November the document will be  submitted for consideration by the legislative body of the country.

Talks about a possible ban on the import and exploitation of  right-hand drive vehicles are not being discussed in Armenia for the  first time. However, to this day there is no legal act regarding the  suspension of the use of right-hand drive vehicles, the introduction  of restrictions or requirements for owners of such vehicles. A new  impetus to the initiative to ban, according to rumored rumors, was  given by major importers of cars, which in the summer of this year.  "opened their eyes" to officials on the danger of these machines. 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 Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies  Vahan Martirosyan noted 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 use of  right-hand drive cars in Armenia, but the owners of the right-hand  drive cars will be given time to replace the rudder location," said  the head Ministry of Transport. The Office was assured that in the  course of discussions, take into account the proposals of all  interested parties. "After summarizing all proposals, they will be  presented in the prescribed manner to the public and representatives  of interested structures," the ministry said. Perhaps at this stage,  in order not to create much noise, the authors of the initiative  decided to limit themselves to a ban on imports (according to  unofficial data, right-handed cars in the country more than 35%).

Earlier, responding to a question from ArmInfo, deputy chairman of  the human rights organization Drug driver, David Pedanian, stated  that the initiators of the development of the program providing for  the ban on import and exploitation of right-hand cars in Armenia are  likely to be large importers of vehicles.  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 wheel, because the price of the issue is $  700-1000. Noting that at present there is no official statistics in  Armenia about the accident with the participation of right-hand drive  vehicles, the expert called cunning that the basis for this idea is  the safety factor.