Armenia greenlights import of right-hand drive vehicles

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology of Armenia has approved the importation of right-hand drive vehicles into the country.

What are the conditions?

After a right-hand drive vehicle is imported, owners will have a year to transfer the steering wheel to the left side of the vehicle.

The ministry said this compromise was made given the numerous requests and complaints of citizens concerning the issue.

“The government tried to come up with a legal solution and this was the decision we made. We are trying to facilitate solving the problem in this way so that people who are confronted with the issue can import their cars,” said Acting Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan.

Some drivers have already changed the position of the steering wheel of their cars. Arshakyan says certified specialists will be able to carry out such work easily and efficiently.

• Right-hand-drive cars won’t be banned in Georgia after all

• Armenia: Goodbye to right-hand-drive cars?

When and why did Armenia ban the import of right-hand drive cars?

At the end of 2017 the government came out with a proposal to temporarily ban the import of right-hand drive vehicles starting from 1 April 2018. Operating right-hand drive vehicles was also later banned.

Drivers suggested that the ban on the import of right-hand drive cars only be partial, but at the beginning of 2018 the government imposed a total ban.

The authorities defended their decision citing safety considerations: As Armenia uses right-hand traffic, left-hand drive cars are needed.

Right-hand drive motorists assured traffic police that right-hand drive vehicles are not responsible for a large portion of automobile accidents.

Moreover, right-hand drive cars are largely made in Japan, and they are cheap for residents in Armenia.

Official data shows that there are 32,000 right-hand drive vehicles in Armenia. However, civil activists claim that there are almost 100,000 right-hand drive cars in the country.