Either the Law Will Be Enforced in Full Strictness, or Drivers Will Be Given a Chance for Clemency: Pavlos Shahinyan on Possible Solutions for the Points System

The idea of a points system is generally positive and should be expected to yield positive results. However, the question arises: is it well-developed?

This was stated by Pavlos Shahinyan, the head of the Road Safety Council NGO, in an interview with AuroraNews. On December 9 of the previous year, the National Assembly approved the draft law on the implementation of a points system for regulating road traffic in its second reading and entirely. The draft law prompted discussions and protests.

The package aimed to grant 9 points to a person entitled to drive a vehicle for a period of one year from the date of obtaining a driver's license. In case of a violation, the points corresponding to the violation stipulated by the relevant article of the law would be deducted automatically from the total points granted for that year.

When discussing the points system's provisions, efficiency, and resulting issues, Shahinyan pointed out that it should be noted that previously, if a driver committed a violation and was fined for it, they had the opportunity to pay for the violation and continue driving in the city.

“The idea of impunity is prevalent in Armenian society, meaning the driver drives a car, gets fined, and drives again, but this used to be the case. Now, there is a fine for the violation, and there are points deducted from the driver's license. In this case, the points system has a deterrent effect and suggests that people will adhere to that deterrence,” said Shahinyan.

According to him, our country was not ready for the adoption of the points system because it has shortcomings. “There needed to be clear and understood regulations to understand whether this mechanism would harm anyone and whether it would deprive anyone of their job. The points system could have been applied with a developed phased project. The fines applied under the points system should be those that are provable, e.g., speeding identified by speed cameras. As for violations related to parking or signage in the city, it is too early to talk about them as we have infrastructural and primary problems. Our city does not have sufficient road infrastructure; signs are missing, leading to issues,” the NGO leader noted.

Shahinyan spoke specifically about the fines for vehicles stopping in the second traffic lane and the deduction of points for the committed violation. As reported by the Road Police, violations of stopping and parking rules by vehicle drivers lead to fines amounting to five times the minimum wage, with an application of 0.5 points.

“If we examine the law through examples, we will notice that if it applies to delivery workers servicing a shop, it becomes clear that having parking issues, the delivery person cannot deliver within 2 minutes and continue driving. The process will take 10-15 minutes, leading to a violation, and after several violations, the driver will lose their driver's license. This means it is likely that within a week, the delivery person will lose their driver's license and therefore their job,” he stated.

According to Shahinyan, there are targeted drivers who, once deprived of their driver's license, lose their opportunity to earn a daily bread. “If we observe the same delivery person, taxi driver, or route driver as examples, we understand that after losing their driving license, that driver will not sit at home but will go out and continue working without a driver's license, thus committing a more serious violation. No organization can hire a new delivery person every week; they face challenges. But is this what we need?” he expressed.

A delivery person deprived of their driver’s license will drive without a legal right, and if one day that driver is stopped by traffic police, either a corrupt risk will arise, or a criminal case will be initiated against the driver. According to our interlocutor, this is another issue that has not been taken into account in the current points system.

Shahinyan noted that in this case, there are two solutions: either the law will be enforced in its entirety, or the driver will be given a chance for clemency by creating special laws specifically for delivery people or taxi drivers. However, in this case, we lose the condition of equality, for instance, considering that giving a delivery person or taxi driver any preferential opportunity violates the right of a parent picking up a child from school.

The aim of implementing the points system is to ensure road safety. The authors of the legislative package for this system expect that the new regulations should reduce the number of accidents and the number of fatalities from accidents by 50 percent. Below, we present the statistical quantity of accidents that occurred in the Republic of Armenia over the past three years and the number of people injured and killed from those accidents.

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After the adoption of the points system, the sale of points began. It was noticeable online as people were already selling their driver license points for a specified amount. For instance, 1 point was priced at 60,000 AMD. According to Pavlos Shahinyan, this is an inevitable but manageable process if a more accurate regulation is created.

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When asked if he has any proposals that would lead to the improvement of law enforcement, Shahinyan stated that it is one: to make the implementation of the points system phased. “I believe that the serious violations that lead to fatalities should be left: these are speeding, running a red light, and driving under the influence of alcohol. These three significant violations lead to major and tragic accidents,” he said.

Author: Jemma Sardyaryan