Parliamentary Hearings on Road Traffic Safety in the Republic of Armenia

At the initiative of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security, parliamentary hearings on Road Traffic Safety in the Republic of Armenia were convened on April 9.

The hearings were attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan, Deputy Ministers, road police officials, the NGO representatives, and the invitees.

In his opening speech, the Committee Chair Andranik Kocharyan noted that hearings on such a topic were organized as a result of discussions. Presenting the statistical data on road accidents, the Committee Chair mentioned that the statistics of road traffic accidents in Armenia continue to be worrying: On average, one person dies every day annually, and 16 suffer injuries of varying degrees.

Andranik Kocharyan underscored that the causes of accidents include both the management and infrastructure gaps in the sector, as well as the insufficient awareness and lack of responsibility of road users. He emphasized the necessity to form traffic culture and behaviour in the field of general education.

The Deputy Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Armen Khachatryan presented statistical data on road accidents, noting that in 2024, there were 4314 road accidents with victims or injuries. 333 people were killed, 6116 were injured.

"In January-March 2025 alone, 988 road accidents with victims or injuries were recorded, as a result of which 60 victims and 1391 injured were reported," the rapporteur underlined.

Referring to the creation of the patrol service, Armen Khachatryan pointed out that it was an important institutional change in the field of road traffic safety, which had a significant impact not only on traffic control, but also on the prevention and detection of crimes. According to the Deputy Chair of the Committee, in recent years the state has implemented significant changes in the field of granting the right to drive vehicles. "The process of obtaining a driver's license has become significantly more complicated. The requirements for both theoretical and practical exams have been increased, control has been strengthened, corruption risks in the system have significantly decreased. Today, without appropriate knowledge, it is almost impossible to obtain a driver'' license," Armen Khachatryan noted.

The rapporteur stressed that the sector needs unified management, for which it is necessary to create an appropriate legal framework and adopt a road safety strategy.

According to the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Kristine Ghalechyan, ensuring the safety of citizens on Armenia's roads is one of the important commitments of the Ministry. According to her, although the number of road accidents is on the decline, road safety remains an important challenge.

The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure is moving from responding to accidents to implementing a policy of preventive measures to improve the safety of road infrastructure.

She emphasized that in recent years the Ministry has invested its efforts in improving the condition of roads. About 500 km of roads are repaired and overhauled every year. In 2024, within the framework of the major road reconstruction works, about 9.433 road signs were installed, 121.294 linear metres of bar gates were set up, 552,404 square meters of marking work on interstate republican roads were carried out.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that, according to the analyses, on those road sections where work on improving accident-prone areas has been carried out, the number of accidents has significantly decreased.

The RA Head of Police, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aram Hovhannisyan also touched upon the statistical data on road accidents in his speech, indicating their causes. He underlined that the number of accidents decreased by 6.5% compared to the previous year.

According to Aram Hovhannisyan, the decrease in accidents is due to the activities of the patrol service throughout the republic, as well as the implementation of targeted measures by other police departments.

Regarding the increase in vehicles, the Head of Police noted that the number of vehicles registered in 2024 increased by about 400.000 compared to 2015.

The Deputy Minister also presented the statistics on road accidents for the first quarter of 2025.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Araksia Svajyan spoke about the measures aimed at ensuring the safety of students in educational institutions and the work carried out in schools to form citizens who follow road traffic rules.

An important process is being implemented in the school system, the target of which is the formation of students' capabilities.

Within the framework of the state standard of general education, educational programmes and standards have been revised.

Large-scale work is also being carried out in the preschool sector, in particular, about 800 preschool teachers have been trained in road traffic safety rules jointly with UNICEF.

There is also a course on road traffic in colleges and schools.

Within the framework of cooperation with international organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as the concerned parties, work is also being carried out to develop methodological guidelines. The Deputy Minister informed that public campaigns have also been carried out and added that there is close cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police in terms of ensuring road safety in the territory of educational institutions.

The concept of transport development in Yerevan was presented by the Head of Yerevan Municipality Transport Department Vazgen Harutyunyan, talked about the reforms being implemented in the field of traffic rules, and the Deputy Head of the Patrol Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police, Police Colonel Arman Chilingaryan detailed the measures and initiatives to be taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police to prevent road accidents.

The rapporteurs presented the problems of the road safety sector, spoke about the causes of road traffic accidents. It was noted that 58.455 accidents were reported over the past 10 years, with 3.326 victims. The importance of a separate road safety strategy, activity programme and coordinating body was emphasized. The importance of organizing safe and unhindered traffic of alternative means of transport was emphasized.

The rapporteurs also answered the participants' questions and provided clarifications.

In his final speech, the RA Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan responded to some observations made in the speeches and questions, presented views on making future actions more systematic and effective, and on the road safety strategy document.

The Deputy Chair of the Committee Armen Khachatryan thanked those present for participating in the hearings that lasted more than six hours and for submitting observations and proposals. According to the MP, it is necessary to have a strategic document, which will clearly indicate the steps of the competent structures. According to Armen Khachatryan, the results of the hearings make it clear that all the institutions have work to do in the field of road safety.

The parliamentary hearings were implemented with the support of the UNDP Fostering Responsiveness, Effectiveness, Transparency and Inclusiveness of Armenian Parliament (FORSETI) project, which is funded by the Governments of Sweden and Canada and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.