According to the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Ensuring Road Traffic Safety", the instructor of driving a vehicle:

Explanation

A driving instructor is equated with the driver in law.

The rule: during instruction the instructor is legally in the position of a driver. That means all the driver's duties — alertness, no alcohol in the blood, observance of traffic rules, answering for offences — rest on the instructor too, even when the person behind the wheel is the learner and the instructor's hands are not on it.

The technical reason for this equivalence is clear: a training vehicle has an auxiliary brake and clutch pedal on the instructor's side and usually an extra mirror as well; the instructor can take control at any moment and prevent a dangerous manoeuvre. Whoever has the power of immediate intervention also bears the responsibility. Remember the practical consequence: if the learner commits an offence or a collision occurs, the fine and the liability fall on the instructor, and he cannot shrug them off by claiming "I wasn't driving". For the same reason, the conditions required of a driver must also hold for the instructor himself during instruction.

• If the instructor were not equated with the driver, effectively nobody would be held responsible during a lesson: the learner has no licence yet, and the instructor would claim he was not behind the wheel.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error