Women behind the wheel are no longer an exotic sight in Yerevan. I frequently find my car sandwiched between two female drivers on the street. And those are the rare moments, when I feel safe… because I’ve never seen a female driver take an especially risky maneuver just to prove a point or please their ego so far.
There are 41,233 female drivers in Armenia according to RA Police Spokesman Ashot Aharonian. This is a sharp rise from 16,000 in 2014.
Since there are roughly 433,000 cars driven on Armenia’s roads, we could conclude that female drivers make up nearly 10% of drivers.
Even more interesting is the fact that female drivers are rarely involved in traffic accidents. For example, in 2014 (the only year for which I can find information), there were 2824 traffic accidents and only 10 of those had female drivers involved, or 0,35%.
Despite all these very hopeful statistics, I often see female drivers sticking this incredibly sexist sign onto their cars. It basically means — watch out, there’s a woman behind the wheel.
There are, of course, some pretty bad female drivers on Yerevan’s streets too… this video was made by a friend of mine from our office balcony. A female driver violated half a dozen traffic rules to park on a central Yerevan street. But let’s just say, when I was learning to drive, my parking skills weren’t much better. And overall, I stand by my claim — most women drive very safely in Armenia and I wish they’d stop using that stupid sign!
