In accordance with the RA law "On Road Safety", the "roadway" is:

Explanation

The roadway is the element of the road intended for the movement of non-rail vehicles.

The whole difference between the two options is one word: "non-rail". The legislator added this qualifier because rail vehicles — trams and trains — have a dedicated track and a separate legal regime. If we defined the roadway as "the place where vehicles move" without that qualifier, the rail track would become part of the roadway, and then the rules on tram priority, the ban on travelling along the rails in the opposite direction, and the counting of traffic lanes would all fall into contradiction.

This definition underpins dozens of other rules, so keep it precise: the roadway is not the same as the shoulder, the pavement, the kerb or the cycle path. The width of the roadway is the basis for determining the number of lanes, whether a U-turn is allowed, where to stop, and where pedestrians cross. A practical note for Armenia: Yerevan's trolleybuses, though connected to overhead wires, are not rail vehicles and travel on the same shared roadway as you; so they have no special tram-type priority.

• It lacks the "non-rail" qualifier and therefore brings the track of rail vehicles inside the roadway, which is incompatible with their separate regime.

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