"Fact": Horror on the roads of Armenia

The newspaper "Fact" writes: "It turns out that during the service carried out in the republic from March 30 to April 6, patrols detected 20,426 violations of traffic rules. Among them, 400 drivers were found to be intoxicated, 600 drivers without a driver's license, and 4,447 people were not wearing seat belts.

To say that these are terrible numbers is to say nothing. Moreover, this week is no exception: a similar picture is almost always. For example, from March 23 to 30, patrols recorded 22,649 violations of the Traffic Code, including 424 drivers who were intoxicated, 600 drivers without a driver's license, and 4,632 people who were not wearing seat belts. From March 16 to 23, patrols detected 5,361 violations of the Road Traffic Code, 21,783 violations in the regions, including 410 drunk drivers, 572 drivers without a driver's license, and 4,611 people not wearing seat belts. Similar worrying figures are also found in the case of other violations: smoking while driving, using a phone while driving, speeding, etc. And so on, all week long.

And if we take into account that these figures do not include violations recorded by video surveillance devices, the picture becomes more complete. Let's also add to this the fact that, understandably, patrols cannot physically "catch" all violators. So, imagine how many violations we are actually dealing with, how many drivers get behind the wheel drunk, drive without seat belts, speed, etc.

What does all this talk about? In addition to the fact that, unfortunately, a significant part of our drivers are not disciplined, we also have a systemic problem. The “reforms” implemented in the police system have not actually yielded any significant results, patrol officers do not physically manage to be “everywhere”, often they are nowhere at all, because they are busy carrying out orders that do not arise from their direct duties. On the other hand, the fines in Armenia for violations that pose a particular danger are quite low.

It is unlikely that any European country would apply such mild punishments, for example, for drunk driving, driving without a driver’s license, and other violations. Well, perhaps there is no time or “desire” for real reforms. The important thing is that the entire law enforcement system is the one that executes the orders of the ruling power and its leader.