4,799 road accidents were registered in Armenia in 2019, killing 341 and injuring 6,801.

This is the highest number of accidents since 2006.

One tragic accident occurred on the Zod Bridge in July 2019. Violating safety rules, Soghomon Hakobyan lost control of his car and crashed into the bridge, killing seven and injuring four. His trial began on February 24.

In 2018, there were 4,111 road accidents which left 343 dead and 5,950 injured. 

And the death rate due to road accidents is climbing. Over the past two years, the number of accidents has increased by 16-17%.

Vehicular collisions and accidents involving pedestrians were the two leading types of road accidents. 

In 2019, the 2,120 registered car collisions resulted in the death of 100 and the injury of 3,577.

There were 1,235 cases of cars hitting pedestrians, resulting in 117 deaths and 1,222 injuries.

Tigran Keyan, President of the Driver's Friend NGO, says there has been no clear study of accidents so far, which is why it is difficult to talk about their main causes. He says it is not clear whether the accidents were due to the technical condition of the cars, the road condition or the weather conditions.

Tigran Keyan

"Since there is no such analysis, we cannot say who the real culprit is," he said.

Referring to the increase in car imports, Keyan notes that if there is an increase in cars, naturally, there should be an increase in car accidents, especially when half of the cars are not up to standards.

 Keyan says that all should obey traffic rules-drivers and pedestrians.

 “Having a safe traffic should not be only through stricter laws. From an early age people need to be educated and taught to respect and uphold the law,” he says.

Yerevan accounted for half of all road accidents in 2019

Almost half of all road accidents in 2019 occurred in Yerevan. Compared to 2018, the number of accidents in Yerevan last year increased by 340 or 19%.

2,172 traffic accidents were registered in Yerevan last year, resulting in 86 deaths and 2,801 people injured.

Keyan says most accidents in Yerevan are minor property accidents.

“Traffic is more congested at intersections of Yerevan than elsewhere. Naturally, there are accidents in these areas due to the tendency not to give the right way and to cross the street unsafely,” he says.

However, in his opinion, traffic in provinces is more disorderly, as there is no strict control, and many do not know the rules of the road.

At 438, Kotayk had the second highest number of road accidents resulting in 35 deaths and 668 injuries.

Khachik Samvelyan, Head of the Traffic Police Accident Investigation and Administrative Division, say the high number of accidents in Kotayk last year was due to summer vacationers travelling to Sevan, Tzaghkadzor and other resorts.

 Keyan thinks that the police need to make testing to get a driver’s license stricter. 

 “We have a system now that automatically hands out licenses. It’s absurd to have road tests in a confined area, away from real street traffic. There’s no way to gauge how drivers conduct themselves in actual traffic situations. 

Top photo by Ani Sargsyan