Based on statistics, most car accidents happen because drivers and pedestrians do not respect each other and don’t know how to yield. The main reasons for car accidents include extreme speed limits, drunk driving, violations of signs, intersections, order of lanes, as well as wrong pedestrian crossing. Compared to 2004, there were 148 more accidents in 2005. The number of injured increased by 281 and 51 people died. 230,884 cars have been in auto shops in 2005. There have been 165,723 transportation violations, of which 4745 have been a result of drunk driving. 161,644 drivers have paid fees, while 3182 drivers have had their licenses taken away. Police officers have taken in 4,051,076,000 AMD. In 2005, 569 accidents have taken place in Yerevan, during which 81 people have died and 685 have been injured. There have been 431 interstate accidents and 150 have died. In 2005, the number of accidents with pedestrians and as a result, 141 people died and 463 were injured. More and more minors have been in accidents. 297 accidents have been unrevealed and 52 drivers have died. 450 accidents took place as a result of exceeding the speed limit (139 people have died, while 634 have been injured).
On December 16, 2005, the National Assembly passed a law on the new fees for traffic violations based on the driving code. According to the law, it is prohibited to tint windows and have curtains in the cars. The fee for that is 50,000 AMD. The fee for driving while listening to the radio or talking on the cell phone is 3000 AMD, while getting out of the zone is 3000 AMD. Drunk drivers have to pay a 50,000 AMD fine, while drivers that stop at non-designated stops will have to pay a 3-7,000 AMD fine. As for unlicensed cars and drivers that don’t show their license and registration, the fee is 1000 AMD. According to sources, 300 drivers have been taken to the police department and have paid fines for violations.
Citizens of Armenia often see some police officers afraid of pulling over drivers with foreign licenses. They are mainly oligarchs and political figures, officials from the prosecutor’s office and ministry of justice, or simply their kids.