- The kit list has 8 items - approved by the RA Minister of Health, Order N 4938-Լ of 20 October 2022, as amended by Order N 1114-Լ of 29 February 2024.
- Three things are mandatory in a car: a medical kit, a fire extinguisher, and a "Emergency Stop" warning sign (or a flashing red lantern).
- Nitroglycerin, ammonia (smelling salts), painkillers, validol and corvalol were removed from the list in February 2024. You no longer need them.
- The fine for missing any of them is 5,000 AMD (Code of Administrative Offences, article 123 part 1).
- You can usually avoid paying it by fixing the problem on the spot, or within 24 hours with proof - article 123 parts 6-8.
- Buses need two fire extinguishers, one in the driver's cab and one in the passenger cabin. Cars need one, in an easily reachable place.
The official contents list of a car first aid kit
The traffic rules themselves do not list what goes inside the kit. They say the kit must be there and that "the list of mandatory medicines and medical supplies contained in the medical kit is approved by the Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia". That order is N 4938-Լ of 20 October 2022, and its appendix was rewritten by Order N 1114-Լ of 29 February 2024, which cut the list down.
The list in force today:
That is the whole list. There is no requirement to buy a specific branded or certified "auto kit" - the law names the contents, not the box. A pharmacy-bought ready-made car kit is simply the convenient way to have all eight at once, and it is worth opening it and checking that all eight are actually inside, because kits sold in Armenia still vary.
The pre-2024 list also required nitroglycerin, ammonia solution (smelling salts), painkillers, validol and corvalol. The February 2024 amendment removed all of them. If your kit is an old one, those items are no longer required - but nothing forbids keeping them, and an expired blister of pills in the kit is not itself an offence.
What else the car must carry
The requirement comes from the list of faults and conditions that prohibit operating a vehicle - Annex 2 to Government Decision N 955-Ն of 28 June 2007, point 6, sub-point 9. It sets out three groups:
- Buses, passenger cars, trucks and wheeled tractors: a medical kit, a fire extinguisher, and an "Emergency Stop" warning sign (a warning triangle or a flashing red lantern).
- Motorcycles with a sidecar: a medical kit and an "Emergency Stop" sign. No fire extinguisher.
- Trucks over 3.5 tonnes and buses over 5 tonnes: at least two wheel chocks, in addition to the above.
When you actually have to put the triangle out
The warning sign is not decoration for the boot. The traffic rules require you to switch on the hazard lights in a road accident, in a forced stop where stopping is prohibited, when dazzled by headlights, and when being towed (point 22). Immediately after switching them on - and also when the hazard lights are broken or absent - the "Emergency Stop" sign must be placed (point 23):
- In a road accident. Put the sign out immediately, before anything else on the road.
- In a forced stop where stopping is prohibited, and anywhere visibility means other drivers might not notice your car in time.
- At 15 metres inside a built-up area. That is the minimum distance from the vehicle set by the rules.
- At 30 metres outside a built-up area. The higher speeds outside towns need the extra warning distance.
- On a towed vehicle, if its hazard lights are missing or broken, the sign goes on the rear of the towed vehicle (point 24).
The fine, and how to avoid paying it
Driving a vehicle that has any of the faults or conditions prohibiting operation - a missing kit, extinguisher or warning sign is one of them - is punished under article 123 part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences: 5,000 AMD (five times the 1,000 AMD calculation base). No penalty points are applied for this.
What makes this offence unusual is parts 6-8 of the same article, added in 2024:
- The officer must inform you that you will not be held administratively liable if you eliminate the violation.
- If you start eliminating it immediately after being informed, no protocol on the administrative offence is drawn up at all.
- If it cannot be eliminated on the spot, the officer draws up the protocol and issues the decision on liability.
- You then have 24 hours from the moment the officer detected the violation to eliminate it.
- Submit proof to the authority within those same 24 hours and you are released from the obligation to pay the fine. A separate record is drawn up and you get a copy of it.
A missing kit, extinguisher or warning sign is also a reason to fail the annual technical inspection. Driving a vehicle that has not passed technical inspection, or that has any of the government-listed prohibiting faults revealed by it, is punished under article 123.4 part 2 - 20,000 AMD, imposed on the owner or possessor. That one is four times the roadside fine and has no 24-hour rescue clause.
If your car runs on LPG
Most gas-converted cars in Armenia are checked on a separate point of the same list. Point 6, sub-point 16 makes it a prohibiting fault if, on a car with a gas-cylinder fuel system, the technical parameters marked on the outer surface of the cylinder do not match the data in the technical passport, or the dates of the last and the scheduled next test are absent. So the cylinder's stamped test dates matter as much as the kit does, and they fall under the same 5,000 AMD article 123 part 1.
Nothing in the law requires the kit's contents to be in date, and an expired iodine bottle will not by itself get you fined. But the kit exists so that you can stop a bleed at the roadside. A tourniquet that has gone brittle in a hot glovebox, or scissors that will not cut a seatbelt, satisfy the inspector and fail you at the moment you need them. Checking the kit once a year, when you renew insurance, is the cheap habit.
FAQ
What exactly must be in a car first aid kit in Armenia?
Eight items: a sterile bandage, a non-sterile bandage, an elastic bandage, scissors, absorbent cotton wool, a haemostatic tourniquet, adhesive plaster, and either iodine solution 50 mg/ml or povidone-iodine solution 100 mg/ml for external use. The list is the appendix to Order N 4938-Լ of the RA Minister of Health, as amended on 29 February 2024.
Do I still need nitroglycerin, validol, corvalol or painkillers?
No. Those were on the earlier list and were removed by the amending order of 29 February 2024. Keeping them is allowed but no longer required, and their absence cannot be the basis of a fine.
Is a fire extinguisher mandatory in a private car in Armenia?
Yes. For buses, passenger cars, trucks and wheeled tractors, the absence of a fire extinguisher is a condition prohibiting the vehicle's operation. It must be in an easily reachable place. A bus needs two - one in the driver's cab and one in the passenger cabin. A motorcycle with a sidecar does not need one.
What is the fine for driving without a first aid kit, extinguisher or warning triangle?
5,000 AMD under article 123 part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. If you eliminate the violation immediately after the officer informs you, no protocol is drawn up. If you eliminate it within 24 hours and submit proof to the authority in that time, you are released from paying.
How far from the car do I have to place the warning triangle?
At least 15 metres from the vehicle inside a built-up area and at least 30 metres outside built-up areas, per point 23 of the traffic rules.
Does the kit have to be a certified or branded car first aid kit?
No. The law approves a list of contents, not a particular product or certification. Any container holding the eight required items satisfies the requirement - a ready-made pharmacy kit is just the easiest way to get all of them.
Are wheel chocks required in an ordinary car?
No. The two wheel chocks apply only to trucks with a permissible maximum mass over 3.5 tonnes and to buses over 5 tonnes.
Official sources
- Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Armenia - article 123 (5,000 AMD and the 24-hour elimination rule) and article 123.4 (technical inspection, 20,000 AMD).
- Traffic Rules of the Republic of Armenia, Government Decision N 955-Ն of 28.06.2007 - points 22-24 on the "Emergency Stop" sign, and Annex 2, point 6, sub-points 9 and 16 on the equipment a vehicle must carry.
- Order N 4938-Լ of the RA Minister of Health of 20.10.2022, as amended by Order N 1114-Լ of 29.02.2024 - the approved list of the kit's contents.