Activists of Right-Hand Drive initiative demand to allow import of right-hand drive vehicles until 2020
ArmInfo. The Ministry of Transport, Communications and IT of Armenia held a discussion on the ban on the importation of right-hand drive cars into the republic.
According to the press service of the department, activists of the Right-Hand Drive initiative insist on revising the current order, demanding to allow the import of vehicles with the right-hand drive until 2020. Meanwhile, according to the information, during the discussion several solutions were proposed for the problem: the right to import such cars with the further possibility of replacing the helm on the left side, with the right to transit in order to be sold in a third country and, third, to import cars as spare parts.
After a two-hour discussion, it was decided to return to the question after a detailed study of the proposed options.
Yesterday in a conversation with reporters Acting Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan, once again reminded that the movement in Armenia has been adjusted and designed for vehicles with left-hand drive. In this context, in his words, "right handed vehicles" in Armenia can lead to frequent accidents. However, the Acting Minister stated, he opposes the idea of giving time to the owners of right-hand drive vehicles in order to replace the steering wheel location, since there are no control mechanisms for exactly how this will be done - by a private master or by a licensed organization that will be responsible for possible negative consequences.
To recall, starting from April 1, 2018 the import of right-hand drive vehicles into Armenia is prohibited. Already on October 1, the ban will operate within the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union. Initially, under public pressure, it was planned to ban the import of right-hand drive cars temporarily. But later the government removed the word "temporary" from the draft law, and the Armenian parliament on March 1, 2018 approved the document in the second and final reading. To note, experts consider that linking the ban on the import of right-hand drive cars with the need to ensure safety on the roads is not justified. According to the data of the RA Traffic Police, in 2017 there were 2553 accidents registered in Armenia, of which 253 accidents occurred with the participation of right-hand drive vehicles, which is only 10% of the total number of road violations.