‘Haykakan Jamanak’. Fines for Traffic Violations to Increase

‘Haykakan Jamanak’ newspaper has learned that on September 30, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defense and Security will discuss a proposal to amend the Code of Administrative Offenses. The proposal for the amendment has been submitted by Mikayel Melkumyan, an MP from the Prosperous Armenia Party, and Armen Khachatryan, an MP from the ‘My Step’ faction, has been appointed as the accompanying reporter.

According to our sources, the ruling party has not yet reached a final stance regarding the proposal, and it is evident what conclusion will be reached in the committee.

According to the Prosperous Armenia Party members, the necessity for adopting the legal act lies in the fact that the number of traffic accidents is increasing year by year, and according to statistics, the number of people killed and injured as a result of these accidents is also increasing annually. Therefore, under the current legislation, driving a vehicle under the influence, if the driver is only under the influence of alcohol and if the offense does not contain characteristics of articles two to six of the relevant section, results in a fine of 150,000 AMD. If during the commission of the offense, the driver’s blood alcohol content exceeds 11 grams per liter, or if the pure alcohol content in one liter of exhaled air exceeds 0.5 milligrams, the fine will be 200,000 AMD.

The MP proposes an increase in fines and a tightening of responsibility, which will reduce the number of gross violations, thus proposing fines of 250,000 and 300,000 AMD respectively. According to our information, there is a reservation from the authorities regarding the increase in the amount.

Yesterday, ‘Haykakan Jamanak’ tried to talk to MP Armen Khachatryan, accompanying reporter of the proposal, but his phone was switched off. It remains unknown what conclusion the authorities came to on this issue,” the newspaper writes.

The full article can be read in today’s issue of the newspaper.