The model for reinstating driver`s licenses for citizens deprived of  their right to drive will be changed in Armenia - draft law

ArmInfo.  The model for reinstating driver's licenses for citizens deprived of their right to  drive will be changed in Armenia. The National Assembly of the  Republic of Armenia will discuss amendments to the law "On Ensuring  Road Safety" and a package of related documents in its first reading  at June 16 session.

As RA Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan noted in her  speech, the issue has been repeatedly raised by citizens, and RA  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently addressed it. In developing  the package, an attempt was made to achieve a balanced approach to  addressing the issue. Currently, as the minister recalled,  reinstatement of driving privileges is based on examinations,  regardless of whether the deprivation of driving privileges was  imposed for the first time or not. Meanwhile, Arpine Sargsyan  continued, international experience and research highlight the need  to study driver behavior, especially in cases of first-time license  revocation, when more targeted methods are used. For example,  additional courses and training for those revoked, the installation  of storage bays in existing vehicles, the establishment of a  probationary period with limited capabilities, and other procedures  are used.

Accordingly, taking into account applicability and accessibility, it  is proposed to change the existing model of driving. Driver's license  reinstatement would be implemented through the introduction of a  one-year probationary period with a very limited possibility of  accruing six penalty points. This approach would allow the state to  rethink the logic of behavioral change with minimal intervention,  without compromising road safety, and ensure driver rehabilitation by  giving them the opportunity to demonstrate behavioral change during a  probationary period under limited conditions.

The package of projects proposes changing the existing model of  driver's license reinstatement by introducing a more targeted  procedure. Thus, if an application is submitted within one year of  the expiration of the license suspension period, a driver's license  issued by competent authorities, suspended based on a valid police  deprivation order, may be reinstated once without passing a  qualifying exam, upon payment of the statutory state fee. A  probationary period of one year is established, with the second or  subsequent reinstatement occurring after passing the qualifying exam.  During the probationary period, 6 points are awarded instead of 13.  For a person on probation who has exhausted 6 penalty points, a state  fee of 50,000 drams is established for the reinstatement of a  driver's license. At the same time, a transitional provision is being  established, according to which persons deprived of the right to  drive vehicles after January 1, 2020, will be able to restore their  driver's license only once, by paying the appropriate state fee with  the accrual of 6 penalty points instead of 13, subject to passing a  probationary period of 1 year from the date of restoration.