Speed limits in Armenia: every number the exam asks about

The maximum permitted speed for a category B car in Armenia is 60 km/h in a built-up area, 20 km/h in a residential zone or a courtyard area, 90 km/h outside built-up areas, 110 km/h on a motorway, and 50 km/h while towing another mechanical vehicle, on any road (Rules of the Road, points 68, 69(1), 71(2)). A posted speed sign always beats the general figure — and sign 3.24 can set a limit that is higher as well as lower, up to 80 km/h in a built-up area and 110 km/h outside one (point 70).

These figures come up constantly in the exam bank, and the traps are all hidden in the exceptions. Point numbers below refer to the Rules of the Road, Annex 1 to RA Government Decision No. 955-N of June 28, 2007.

The basic limits

For a passenger car (category B), unless the signs set something else:

Two more numbers from the same section are worth memorizing: a truck carrying people in an equipped body, and any vehicle carrying an organized group of children, may not exceed 60 km/h on any road (point 71(1)).

The logic behind the table is easy to remember: the more pedestrians there are around you and the more likely a surprise, the lower the permitted speed.

The details the questions are built on

A sign beats the general rule. Where 3.24 "Maximum speed limit" is posted, that number is what applies, whether you are inside a built-up area or outside it. Its zone of effect runs from the sign to the next intersection — in a built-up area with no intersection, to the end of the built-up area — and can end earlier at 3.25 "End of maximum speed limit zone", at the 8.2.1 "Zone of effect" plate, or at another 3.24 carrying a different number (Rules, Form No. 1, sign 3.24). The exam pictures very often include a sign placed there precisely to overturn the memorized answer.

3.24 can raise the limit, not just lower it. On individual stretches of road the sign may set a speed higher than the general one, but a raised limit may not exceed 80 km/h in a built-up area or 110 km/h outside one (point 70). Candidates who remember 3.24 only as a sign that lowers the speed lose that question.

The built-up area is set by the sign's number, not by its color. The built-up-area regime — the 60 km/h included — begins at 5.23.1 / 5.23.2 "Start of built-up area" and ends at 5.24.1 / 5.24.2 "End of built-up area". 5.25 "Start of built-up area" and 5.26 give a settlement's name and boundary on a road where those requirements do not apply. The white and blue backgrounds are a useful visual cue, but the Rules key the regime to the sign numbers (Rules, Form No. 1, signs 5.23.1–5.26).

A motorway has a lower limit too. Motorways are closed to vehicles whose speed, by technical specification or by their condition, does not exceed 40 km/h (point 116(2)) — so a vehicle that manages exactly 40 is barred as well, not only one that is slower. Reversing and learner driving are prohibited there too (points 116(6), 116(7)). And on any road, driving needlessly slowly and obstructing other vehicles is an offense in its own right (point 72(4)).

Two traps involving other vehicles. An intercity bus does 60 km/h in a built-up area and 90 km/h on all roads outside one, motorways included — not 70, not 110 (points 68, 69(2)). A car with a trailer is limited to 70 km/h outside built-up areas and 90 km/h on a motorway, not 110 (point 69(3)).

How much over the speed limit can you drive in Armenia?

By law, not at all: there is no permitted margin over the limit. The Rules of the Road require you to drive at a speed that does not exceed the one set (Rules, point 65), and in a built-up area they allow "not more than 60 km/h" (point 68). Liability under the RA Code of Administrative Offences begins at just 1 km/h over the limit (Article 124.4, part 1). The only "allowance" is a correction for the measuring device's error, and it works for the official who draws up the decision, not as a right for the driver.

How the excess is counted

The penalty depends on how many km/h over the limit you were (Code of Administrative Offences, Article 124.4):

The 10 km/h deduction for device error

If speed is measured by a device, the deciding body (official) must subtract 10 km/h from the device's reading for its possible error (Code of Administrative Offences, Article 124.4, part 6). Example for a built-up area with a 60 km/h limit: the device shows 70 km/h, subtract 10 and you get 60 km/h, so there is no excess. The device shows 75 km/h, subtract 10 and you get 65 km/h, which is 5 km/h over, so part 1 applies. This is a rule for how a device-measured offence is processed, not a margin you can count on, and it says nothing about someone judging your speed by eye: drive no faster than the limit.

What penalty points are

A driver's penalty points are taken off for recorded violations (Code of Administrative Offences, Article 25.1, part 3). Exceeding the limit by 11–30 km/h costs 2 points, by 31–50 km/h costs 3, and by 51–80 km/h costs 4 (Article 124.4, parts 2–4).

You can test the rule in practice Group 8; for the overall picture, see the "The basic limits" table above and the exam simulation.

Speed is more than a number

The Rules require you to choose a speed from the actual conditions, not only from the limit: traffic density, the state of your vehicle and its load, road and weather conditions, and in particular the surface and the visibility ahead (point 65). The speed must be one that keeps the vehicle fully under your control (point 66), and when an obstacle or a hazard appears that you were able to spot, you must slow down — to a full stop if necessary (point 67). That wording shows up in exam questions often: the permitted maximum is still not automatically a safe speed. If a question mentions fog, rain or a slippery surface, the correct answer usually involves reducing speed.

It helps to keep the physics in mind as well — not a rule, just a rule of thumb: double your speed and the braking distance does not double, it roughly quadruples. That is why 20 km/h in a residential zone is so strict. A child can step out in front of the car at any moment.

How to lock it in

In bibip's practice section the official questions on this topic are gathered mostly in Group 8 · Speed, towing, carrying people and cargo — free, no registration needed — and the Group 8 theory chapter sets out the same figures with their point numbers. The topic pairs naturally with overtaking, which has a post of its own. For the whole picture, run the exam simulation, where the questions come from across the topics. For motorway speed rules and signs 5.1–5.2, see motorway signs.