Why It Was Decided to Set the Maximum Speed Limit at 60 km/h in Yerevan: MP

Recently, the police announced that in order to improve traffic safety and prevent road traffic accidents, the traffic speed limit will be set to a maximum of 60 km/h in parts of Yerevan where the permitted maximum speed exceeds this limit, starting from July 18, 2020. These road sections include:

1. Isakov Avenue
2. Tbilisi Highway
3. Monte Melkonian Street
4. Acharian Street
5. David Bek Street
6. Myasnikyan Avenue
7. Saralanj Avenue
8. Ashtarak Highway

In an interview with ArmDaily.am, MP Armen Khachatrayan from the My Step faction noted that the Road Police conducted an analysis of traffic accidents, as they always do, and found that 20% of fatal traffic accidents in Yerevan occur on seven streets. He stated, “When they analyzed to see what distinguishes these seven streets from others and why there is a 20% fatality rate, it was found that in all of these streets, the maximum permitted speed exceeds 60 km/h. Therefore, this analysis has been presented to the Police Chief, who then submitted it to the Mayor of Yerevan to take measures in this direction.”

He added that according to the traffic rules accepted by dozens of countries, the maximum speed in populated areas is set at 60 km/h, but Armenia's legislation previously allowed a limit of up to 70 km/h without penalty. This means that, in practice, it was possible to drive at speeds up to 70 km/h in Yerevan. Furthermore, several international organizations concerned with traffic safety have urged for this threshold to be lowered to 60 km/h, and even recommended a limit of 50 km/h, as many European countries have set their maximum speed limit in urban areas at 50 km/h.

According to Khachatrayan, based on this analysis, it has been decided that the maximum speed on these seven streets will be set at 60 km/h, thus allowing up to 70 km/h, and accordingly, statistics will show whether this affects the number of casualties.