Yerevan Mayor slams ‘disastrous’ remain-at-scene car insurance requirement after severe traffic jams

Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan said Monday that most of the traffic jams across the Armenian capital over the past few days were caused by the ‘disastrous’ car insurance requirement of remaining at the scene in case of even a minor collision.

By law, motorists are required to remain at the scene of a traffic collision until insurance agents arrive to document the incident to receive compensation for material damages. Depending on the location and time of the day, sometimes motorists have to wait for hours until the insurance agent arrives. 

Moreover, Avinyan said many motorists ignored the requirement of driving with winter tires. 

“Traffic collisions were taking place mostly with participation of vehicles that were equipped with summer tires despite our warnings about the upcoming bad weather conditions. The other problem is the logic of the [vehicle insurance requirement], motorists have to wait for hours in case of a minor collision, and this results in kilometers long traffic jams. That system is a disaster for Yerevan. It is a disaster because every minor collision paralyzes the entire traffic,” Avinyan said at a meeting in City Hall.

The Mayor said he will seek to introduce new regulations, specifically a limit of 15 minutes for the remain-at-scene requirement, to resolve the matter. 

The City Council meeting mostly focused on the snow clearing operations during the recent heavy snowfalls.

Avinyan’s advisor Kamo Areyan said the city needs multi-functional cleaning equipment to be able to operate in all kind of terrains, including narrow streets.

Commenting on the accusations of mismanagement in organizing the snow clearing work, Areyan said some criticisms have objective grounds, but most opinions are far from professional assessments.

Areyan called on the public to not underestimate the huge work conducted by municipal authorities and employees, who worked 24/7 to clear the snow and ice to ensure safety. 

Last week meteorologists said that 10 hours of snowfalls on Thursday amounted to the half of monthly average. Mayor Avinyan called on Yerevan citizens to stay at home on Friday and go out only in essential cases as meteorologists had forecast heavier snowfalls. He also asked employers to organize the work remotely on that day. The snowfalls caused major traffic jams.