Official statistics do not back up the boastful claims by Armenian traffic police that the installation of speed cameras and other monitoring equipment has made a significant impact in decreasing road fatalities in the country.

Sadly, as traffic fatalities rise, so too are the number of children killed in such accidents.

According to figures released by the Armenian police, 6 children pedestrians under the age of 16 were killed in traffic accidents, and another 8 died as passengers. These numbers rose to seven and twelve in 2013, respectively. This amounts to a 36% rise in child fatalities overall.

It goes without saying that schools in Armenia do not teach pupils about the need to heed traffic signs and road safety awareness.

It is noteworthy that over half of all pedestrian fatalities are due to either jaywalking or crossing streets were its not permissible. This, as a rule, results from a lack of knowledge and a disregard of basic traffic safety laws.

While it will take some time to get people used to obeying the law, such skills must be taught in schools starting today.

I have already written at length about how the wearing of seat belts would significantly decrease the number of road fatalities. Let me simply state that, according to studies on the matter, the number of drivers and passengers killed would be cut in half. Here, I am also talking about passengers in the rear also wearing seat belts.

Seat belts alone will not safeguard small children riding as passengers. The belts must be used in conjunction with specially designed child car seats that have been on the market for years.

In the developed world, children under 150 centimeters (4’, 9”) in height and under the age of 12 must ride in such a car seat. A U.S, study has shown that the use of a car seat reduces child fatalities by 43% when compared with using only a seat belt. Serious injuries are reduced by 75%.

Even though child safety seat are obligatory in Europe and the post-Soviet nations of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic States, Armenia has yet to even raise the issue. This is not surprising in a country where many drivers, instead of buckling up, drape a piece of black ribbon over their chest merely to deceive traffic cops. The seat belts in the rear are simply removed as a nuisance.

Many argue that drivers in Armenia just can’t afford the 15,000 – 20,000 AMD (US$36 -48) price tag of the cheapest car seats, and that to mandate their usage would merely set off a wave of protest. Naturally, this is a false argument. Anyone who can afford to buy a car, even a used clunker, can afford to shell out another $40 to protect their children.

Here, it’s up to the government to get people to start using their brains.

The traffic police in Armenia must start a program of real reforms – revoking the licenses of perpetual offenders, launching traffic safety classes, greater monitoring of seat belt use and, of course, the mandatory use of child safety seats.