Drivers in Armenia paid a whopping 28.2 billion AMD (US$58.5 million) in fines in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Over 3 million traffic violations were either caught by traffic and speed cameras, or by police employees during the two years.

According to police data provided to Hetq, there are 178 speed cameras installed throughout Armenia. 98 of them are in Yerevan, the capital.

In 2015, 542,778 fines were issued based on speed camera findings. The number jumped to 566,459 in 2016.

Armen Khachatryan, a traffic police deputy chief, says that the rise in fines is due to the ever-changing location of speed cameras. Khachatryan says that if violations decrease at a site monitored by a speed camera, the police regard it as a positive change and will move the camera to a new site.

The maximum fine for a traffic violation registered by a speed camera is 500,000 AMD ($1,033).

In Yerevan, traffic cameras monitor 128 intersections and six streets.

In 2015, they registered 951,381 violations totaling some 6 billion AMD in fines paid. In 2016, 879,816 violations were recorded for a total of 5.5 billion in fines paid.

Finally, let’s look at the number of traffic violations caught by the cop patrolling the street.

In 2015, traffic police recorded 423,458 violations, handing out 3.146 billion in fines. In 2016, 335,571 violations were recorded and 3 billion AMD in fines collected.

Currently, according to the Yerevan Municipality, there are 463 paid-parking sites on the streets of Yerevan.

In 2015, 98,428 violations where drivers parked in these spots without paying were recorded. That number rose to 102,759 in 2016.

Since 2011, a company called Security Dream was operating all speed and traffic cameras in Armenia.

In November of 2016, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan instructed the chief of police to negotiate with the company so that certain functions and revenues derived from fines be transferred to government agencies.

Deputy traffic police chief Khachatryan says that according to a new agreement, Security Dream will now monitor traffic and be compensated for the service.

Karen Karapetyan also called for negotiations with companies responsible for monitoring paid parking in Yerevan. The prime minister wanted the government to take over operations and to receive the revenues from fines paid.

In a press release afterwards, Yerevan Deputy Mayor Vahe Nikoyan said that the municipality had purchased all the shares of Parking City Service, the company that had been supervising paid parking and reaping the benefits.