Viewing cable 10YEREVAN82, DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE

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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
10YEREVAN82	2010-02-18 12:12	2011-01-13 05:05	UNCLASSIFIED	Embassy Yerevan

VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYE #0082 0491245
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181245Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0037

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OES/S FOR N. CARTER-FOSTER, DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR - KAREN 
JO MCISAAC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SOCI UNDP UNGA IC
SUBJECT: DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE 
 
REF: STATE 06703 
 
¶1. Poloff delivered points contained in reftel to Lilit 
Avetisyan, the Armenian Ministry of Health officer 
responsible for road safety issues.  In order to compile some 
of below statistics, Poloff also accessed government 
statistics available to the public at www.armstat.am. 
 
¶2. According to Avetisyan, there are currently no Armenian 
laws that ban texting and/or cell phone use while driving. 
Still, Avetisyan was optimistic that a law would be passed 
via the Armenian government's 5 year strategic transport 
safety plan.  Avetisyan noted that a law covering cell phone 
use while driving has been discussed by various 
parliamentarian committees, but has not yet been passed or 
implemented by parliament. 
 
¶3. There is no data available regarding casualties, injuries, 
or crashes in Armenia related to cell phone usage or other 
forms of driver distraction.  Interestingly, traffic accident 
statistics for 2009 showed a 20 percent improvement compared 
to previous years.  Officials believe that this improvement 
was due to a stricter enforcement of fines and other 
sanctions for the violation of traffic rules.  Armenia has 
also recently started cracking down on the widespread and 
long standing non-use of safety belts by Armenian motorists. 
Additionally, Armenian Police recently announced plans to 
install a number of traffic cameras which would have the 
ability to identify motorists who violate the speed limit, 
run traffic lights, and other common traffic violations. 
 
¶4.  (U) The Armenian government has sponsored a mass media 
awareness campaign regarding cell phone use while driving. 
Avetisyan explained that the campaign placed advertisements 
on television, in newspapers, and distributed pamphlets which 
outlined the dangers of using a cell phone while operating a 
vehicle. 
YOVANOVITCH