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Acknowledgements
The achievement of this research is due to the strong efforts of the group members:
Moul Kim Hoeun, Meng Sivlinh, Meas Sopheaktra, Menh Kimsin, and Moul
Channrith, and especially, based on the instructions and encouragement from Mr.
Mom Seilakboth, lecturer at the University of Cambodia. The group members would
like to convey the deep thanks to Lecturer Mom Seilakboth for his interesting lecture
and attention. Through this research paper, there will be better land traffic law
enforcement in Cambodia.
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Contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………..1
I. Introduction……………………………………………..3
II. Road Accident Definition……………………………….3
III. Goals of Research……………………………………….4
IV. Historical Background…………………………………..5
V. Implementation of Traffic Law…………………………6
VI. Traffic Accidents………………………………………..9
A. Causes of Traffic Accident…………………………………11
B. Economical and social Bad effects…………………………12
C. Prevention of Traffic Accident……………………………..13
VII. Conclusion……………………………………………..19
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I. Introduction
Road crashes are a major cause of deaths, injuries, property damages, and disabilities,
in current society of Cambodia. They have negative impacts on individuals, families
and communities, as well as the Royal Government of Cambodia. Cambodia is facing
many social issues such as gun violence, domestic violence, drug abuses, HIV/AIDS,
and after the end of war, people were not only disabled due to unexploded ordnance,
but now also to road accidents. Currently, bad impact of traffic accidents is, too, one
of the obstacles for the country’s development. Even though, the Royal Government
of Cambodia has prioritized and encouraged the implementation of road safety plans,
traffic law and behavior change, the rate of accident is still high. Therefore, in order to
reduce the rate, there must be active participations of all people and stakeholders, or
the success is not expected. The Government cannot play the role alone in solving the
problems. Traffic accidents is a complicated issue that affect not only lives, but very
often, they also result in the loss of human resources, public orders as well as an
enormous amount of private and public properties.
II. Road Accident Definition
A road accident is an unplanned and unfortunate event involving at least one vehicle
within the road environment that results in damage to property and/or injury or death
to a road user. Based on the report format of the traffic police and MPWT, accidents
are classified into four severity categories: fatal, serious injury, slight injury, and
property damage only1. These are defined in the following paragraphs.
1 Country Report, ADB-ASEAN Regional Road Safety Program
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A fatal casualty in a road accident is one in which the victim dies within 30
days of the accident.
A seriously injured casualty is one who has suffered injuries such as a
fracture, concussion, internal lesion, crushing, severe cuts, or severe general
shock requiring medical treatment or hospitalization such that the person is
unable to perform ordinary pursuits for at least 7 days.
A slightly injured casualty is one who is conveyed to a hospital from the
scene in an ambulance or otherwise, one who requires subsequent medical
treatment entailing hospitalization and medical leave of no more than 4 days.
Accidents are assigned the severity group according to the most seriously
affected casualty in the accident. All reported accidents not involving injuries
are classified as property damage only accidents.
III. Goals of Research
Strong efforts were made to conduct research on this important subject in order to
envision Cambodia to be a safe and peaceful place where all road users and relevant
law enforcers completely respect the traffic law and rights of others daily and no
people are killed or injured. Also, the goals are to improve road safety in Cambodia
through: the subsequent reduction of number of cases and casualties resulting from
road traffic accidents, especially in Phnom Penh, where traffic is currently under
danger for all road users, changing behaviors of road users from driving with their
own habit towards a firm respect of traffic law and rights of others on roads,
promoting transparent and effective traffic law enforcement and non-violence means
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to solve dispute on roads, promoting and strengthening the self-led national efforts to
reduce road traffic accident rates and casualties.
IV. Historical Background
The Kingdom of Cambodia, in Southeast Asia, has a total area of 181,035 km2, which
consist of 176,520 km2 of land and 4,520 km2 of water. The country shares an 803-
km border with Thailand in the north and west, a 541-km border with the Lao
People’s Democratic Republic in the northeast, a 1,228-km border with Viet Nam in
the east and southeast, and a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand that is roughly 443
km2. The land area of Cambodia forms a wide shallow basin that includes a large
central plain traversed by the Mekong River and its tributaries flowing from the
northwest to the southeast of Cambodia, then through the lower delta in Viet Nam to
the outlet into the South China Sea. Following a 4-year struggle, Khmer Rouge forces
controlled the country in 1975–1979, and people were evacuated from all cities and
towns. Millions of Cambodians were subsequently executed, and many more died
from horrible living conditions. Cambodia’s economy continued to suffer from
decades of war, until a coalition government brought renewed stability and the
surrender of the remaining Khmer Rouge forces in 1998. The population of Cambodia
is estimated to be over 13 million (World Factbook, December 2003) with low life
expectancy (at 55.49 years for males and 60.47 years for females); high infant
mortality (at 75.94 deaths per 1,000 live births); and a death rate at 9.26 deaths per
1,000 people due to AIDS, accidents, and other causes. The gross domestic product
2 Country Report, ADB-ASEAN Regional Road Safety Program
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(GDP) per capita is estimated to be about $269 (Ministry of Economy and Finance
2002) and according to the ADB, 36% of the populations are below the poverty line.
Cambodia’s traffic law was enacted in 1991. This traffic law does not contain
comprehensive provisions to cope with modern traffic conditions on Cambodia’s
current road situation and thanks to the progress of all sectors in the country, which
has affected the implementation of the land traffic law, a draft of a new traffic law
was developed and submitted to the National Assembly for approval in order to make
the law compatible with the changing situations of the current traffic and the National
Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia has approved the new Cambodian Land
Traffic Law on 20th December 2006 at the fifth National Assembly Meeting of the
third legislature, with 73 majority votes out of 77 of the lawmakers present.
V. Implementation of Traffic Law
The traffic law in Cambodia, at the presence, is not yet fully enforced and respected
by both traffic law enforcement officials and road users. Currently, there are not
proper arrangements for the traffic in Phnom Penh. Despite new traffic law adopted,
its implementation is still poor.
In town, the vehicles have to be stopped or parked for carrying or loading
or unloading goods or passengers not beyond 25 centimeters from the
sidewalk and at least 5 meters from the junction or intersection or the
curved road and at least 10 meters in between the junctions or
intersections or the curved roads of the boulevard. When outside town, all
vehicles have to be stopped or parked at least 10 meters away from the
junctions or intersections or the curved roads3.
3 Article 24, point 5 of the land traffic law
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The authorities do not pay attention to making the traffic orderly.
Disorderly parking can be seen at almost every main street, intersection,
and mostly in front of big businesses, especially restaurants and bars that
seem belonging to the rich and the power. They park two or three lines
into the streets and at the corners of intersections, which frequently cause
traffic jam or accident, but authorities never take actions according to this
article of the traffic law. However, authorities take action only with small
street vendors. They should take equal actions with both big and small
businesses.
For actions of traffic police in implementing traffic law, long time ago, people have
strongly criticized the attitude of traffic police because most of them do not follow
the law when they stop or fine any drivers that they think violate the traffic law. They
do not have a proper means to stop drivers or riders. They usually use means that
frequently cause accident or injury or sometimes death to the driver because the
driver tries to escape from police. The dangerous actions of the police are that they
pull the arm, shirt, hair that cause the riders fall to the ground, and hit them with their
batons. After they stop the abuser they use abusive language with them. When they
have verbal quarrel with driver / riders, in some cases, they hit their opponents
unconsciously. Such violent behaviors of law enforcement officials should be
punished by the law.
Furthermore, due to the lack of knowledge from people about the law, traffic police
take chances to fine the offenders of the traffic law with amount higher than that
determined by law, especially people from the countryside when they come into the
capital and they do not know how the implementation of the traffic law is. When the
officers fine such that people, they threaten to bring their motorcycles to traffic police
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headquarter and keep them for long time, if the people refuse to pay them the amount.
In addition, traffic officers do not issue the receipt for those fined. The Government
should take serious legal acts in accordance with the traffic law against traffic officers
who use their powers to extort money from road users. The law states that:
The police officers or traffic agents shall be imprisoned from one (1) year
to three (3) years and/or fine from two millions (2,000,000) Riels to six
millions (6,000,000) Riels to any traffic officers or traffic agents that:
Forced and demanded the fining money against the amounts set by the
law.
Obtaining money by using the incorrect fining tickets or do not issue
fining tickets to the fined driver.
Shall be punished by jailing from one (1) year to three (3) years and or
fine from two millions (2,000.000) Riels to six millions (6,000.000)
Riels to any government staff or staff working directly or those who
have duty or task in managing the driving schools or engaging in the
issuance of the driving license and vehicle identification card and have
committed wrong to the article 40 or 48 of this provision4.
The inequitable enforcement of the law is that traffic officers are scared to enforce the
law against those who drive luxurious cars. They know that those are high ranking
government officials. So, they do not care, even though, those cars do not have
number plates or the drivers commit other serious offenses against the traffic law
because they are afraid they can face repercussions on their jobs. Particularly, they
dare not stop the car with military and police number plate.
The participation of citizens in implementing the land traffic law: the law
implementation of the public is still very poor. Most of people do not seem to know
how to respect the rules for driving. Some people know clearly about the traffic rules,
4 Article 72, paragraph 3 of the land traffic law
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but they do not respect the rules. It means that the law enforcement and punishment
against those violate the rules is too weak. As being seen, many motorists do not
respect the traffic lights or traffic police when they command the traffic during
electric shorts or traffic jam. They stop when the red light appears. They do not stop
in front of the white zebra line crossing assigned for pedestrians and then move
forward step by step or faster across the red light, and such violation usually prompts
traffic jam and accident. So, traffic police should equally take serious actions and fine
those who violate traffic law or there is no good order in the streets.
VI. Traffic Accidents
In recent years, the rate of traffic accident has risen remarkably in Cambodia. In 2008,
there were 25,796 road traffic casualties, resulting from 10,015 crashes, among of
these, 1,638 were fatalities (an average of 4.5 fatalities per day) and 7,226 were
severely injured, and involving with 21,05 vehicles in these crashes5.
In Phnom Penh, 53% of casualties were injured in motorcycle collisions, and 21%
were injured in motorcycle-four-wheeler. Conversely, only 28% of fatalities occurred
in motorcycle-motorcycle collisions, while 49% of fatalities occurred in motorcycle-
four-wheeler collisions. Cambodia has the highest fatality rate per 10,000 registered
vehicles among ASEAN member countries6.
The average casualty age was 28. People aged between 20 and 29 years old
represented the highest percentage of fatalities and they have significantly increased
from year to year. People aged between 25-29 years old accounted for 23% of
5 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary6 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary
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fatalities although they represent only 9% of the population. The number of casualties
aged more than 55 years old increased by 12% from 2007 to 2008. Among casualties
from this age group, 47% were motorcycle riders, 27% were pedestrian and 14% were
bicycle riders. The proportion of young adults (age 20 to 29) affected by crashes was
greater in Phnom Penh than in the provinces (50% compared to 42%)7.
Motorcycle users accounted for the largest majority of casualties and fatalities (77%
and 68% respectively). Children, 9 years old and under, were most at risk as
pedestrians and passengers. The percentage of motorcycle fatalities was higher in
Phnom Penh than in the rest of the country and was much higher among the 20 and 29
year old age group. Children pedestrian fatalities aged between 0 and 14 years old
decreased by 13% from 2007 to 2008. However, 30% of all pedestrian fatalities were
children aged between 0 and 14 years old8.
Severity of injuries: 4% of casualties died immediately at the scene of the crash, 2%
died at the hospital. 28% of casualties were severely injured (requiring surgery or
admission to intensive care). 45% of casualties with serious injuries were transferred
to a hospital by an ambulance.
Nature of injuries: Head trauma accounted for 86% of motorcycle fatalities. 44% of
motorcycle riders suffered from head trauma. 27% of casualties suffered upper/lower
wound/cuts and 18% suffered from upper/lower fracture accounts. A higher
percentage of head traumas resulting from motorcycle accidents was noticed in
Phnom Penh compared to the provinces (85% compare to 75%). 46% of motorcycle
casualties who suffered from head trauma were aged between 20 and 29 years old.
7 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary8 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary
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Only 14% of four-wheel vehicle drivers who were injured in a crash in 2008 wore a
seatbelt at the time of the crash. Among them, 82% were car drivers 9.
The Percentage of fatal crashes occurring at night (30%) was much higher than day
time (20%). A higher percentage of crashes were noticed during weekends (Saturday
and Sunday). The highest number of fatalities occurred on Saturdays. The largest
number of crashes occurred between 5 pm and 6 pm during week days, and between 7
pm and 8 pm during the weekend. In total, a higher proportion fatal crashes at night
were noticed in Phnom Penh (60%) compared to the rest of the country (35%)10.
A. Causes of Traffic Accident
Human error: Human error is responsible for more than 98% of casualties11. Human
errors: fast speed, alcohol abuse, not respect right of way, dangerous overtaking,
changing lane without due care, driving against flow of traffic, fatigue or illness, not
respect traffic light and signs, wrong use of high beams, or improper use of mobile
phones. More than 50% of fatalities were due to speeding while another 18% were
caused by alcohol abuse. Crashes resulting from not respecting the right of way and
dangerous overtaking occurred more during the daytime than nigh time, but crashes
involving alcohol abuse were more of a problem during the night time than daytime.
Road and weather conditions are responsible for less than 10% of casualties, while
vehicle defect is responsible for only 5% of casualties. Other elements of the cause
are lack of traffic law knowledge, no respect for the law.
9 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary10 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary11 Cambodia Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2005
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B. Economical and social Bad effects
Road accidents have bad impacts on household incomes and the national economy,
and negatively affect the occupation of people. A research figures12 show that farmers
are the largest group of fatalities and casualties, 30% and 25% respectively. The
reasons of the highest percentage are that most of farmers do not have enough
information or knowledge about how to prevent the accident. Farmers’ access to
information about this is very limited for rural areas. Another reason is that they have
difficult access to health care facilities when they get accident because of road
conditions, far from reliable hospitals, and they do not have adequate resources for
their treatment cost. The road accident is the major obstacle of family income if the
victims are main source of family support.
The figure indicates that the highest fatalities and casualties were followed by workers
with 19% casualties while students with 22% casualties and 15% fatalities. Workers
are one of the main sources of incomes. In poor families, especially families with old
people, their living rely on their sons and daughters who are usually the garment
factory and construction workers. When these people get accident, their financial
situations are deteriorating. And if the victim become disable for life, this is the
saddest tragedy. As for students, if they get wounded by road crashes, their family
does not only cost money, but they also lose their studies, which are good ways that
lead them to bright future.
12 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary
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Another important source of family income is vendors / small businesses, which the
figure shows that, constitute 5% of casualties and 4% of fatalities. Motor taxi drivers
that are also the source of income constitute 3% of casualties and 2% of fatalities.
In short, the groups of labor force mentioned above are the only sources for family
support. They are considered as the main pillars of the house. If the pillars collapse,
the whole family also falls down. Students are different from this, but they are also
the cell for social development. They are the sources of human resources that can
bring the economical development for the country.
C. Prevention of Traffic Accident
Enforce speeding, drink-driving, and helmet laws: The top three causes of road
traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries in Cambodia are caused by speeding, drink-
driving and non-helmet wearing. It is highly recommended that traffic law
enforcement prioritize and focus resources on these three risky behaviors, both in the
urban areas and along National Roads. The traffic police recent actions to enforce
helmet wearing nationally, and speeding and drink-driving in Phnom Penh, are
encouraging signs. However, efforts must be sustained, consistent and expanded in
order to deter the public from these dangerous behaviors on the road. A few specific
recommendations are13:
Revise the traffic law to include mandatory helmet wearing for passengers and
increase the existing fine
Set up checkpoints at nighttime with particular focus on drinking and driving
13 Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, Annual Report 2008-Summary
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Set up speed checkpoints on black spot locations, particularly those characterized
high frequency of speed-related crashes.
Regular trainings and appropriate equipment should be provided to traffic police
to effectively enforce these laws
Awareness and education on these three risk factors should be expanded, and
directly linked to the enforcement actions of the police.
Targeted Awareness Campaigns and Education: Targeted road safety campaigns
are more effective than campaigns that target the general population. Limited
resources could be better used by focusing efforts on those groups or events
exhibiting the highest frequency of crashes and casualties. Two main priorities are
recommended:
Young motorists: the most at-risk group on the roads of Cambodia is young people
aged 15-29 accounting for 46% of all road traffic fatalities. Campaigns should
target this vulnerable group, tailoring the messages to be relevant to their daily
lives. Increased research into their attitudes and behaviors while driving would
greatly assist the efforts in developing appropriate campaigns for this age group.
Long national holidays: Crashes and casualties spike during national holidays in
particular Khmer New Year, Chinese New Year and the Water Festival. It is
recommended that government authorities and other organizations active in road
safety focus awareness campaigns (and enforcement measures) on risky behavior,
particularly speeding, drink-driving, helmet wearing, and overloading which are
common during the holiday travel period.
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Improve Driver Training Schools: driving schools are the training grounds for the
future drivers of Cambodia. Therefore, it is essential that safe driving behavior is
instilled in these learners. RCVIS recommends that a rigorous evaluation of the
driving schools is conducted by the Department of Land Transport or an independent
entity to assess the extent the trainers are teaching the correct road rules. Furthermore,
the driver training curriculum should stress the key risky behaviors exhibited on the
roads of Cambodia as a means of educating the new drivers on the importance of safe
driving.
Creating safer environments along roads for children and pedestrians: the roads
of Cambodian can be a dangerous place for pedestrians and young children.
Pedestrians account for 13% of all fatalities, and 30% of those were children aged
between 0 and 14 years old. It is recommended that specific simple measures are
taken immediately to protect pedestrians and children such as:
Safe School Zones: Promote the safety of children when entering and exiting
schools through the creation of safe school zones. These measures could include
enforcing appropriate speed limits in those zones, and ensuring school cross-walks
are respected and clearly-marked;
Pedestrian Infrastructure and access: Municipal transport and public work
authorities, in particular, should ensure that proper facilities exist for pedestrians
throughout urban areas which separate them from motorized traffic. There should
be proper roadside facilities including footways on urban roads, footpaths on rural
highways, and adequate crossing facilities (pedestrian refuges, medians, raised
pedestrian crossings).
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In both actions, the traffic police must play a role in enforcing violations. The
National Road Safety Council (NRSC) and road safety NGOs can play the role of
educating the public on the importance of respecting vulnerable road users.
Safety protection is another effective way of preventing accidental injury. Seat belts
and child restraints have been shown to be effective in reducing deaths and the
severity of injuries to occupants of road vehicles. Helmets have been shown to reduce
the risk of head injuries among motorcyclists by as much as 85 per cent.
Vehicle registration should be strengthened with technical inspection and driving
license restriction. New traffic laws on wearing seat belt and helmet, and obliging all
motorcyclists to have driving license should be enforced strictly. Cooperation and
collaboration between implementing agencies/stakeholders are required for
strengthening traffic laws and other regulations.
National Road Safety Council should be established to steer and coordinate road
safety activities and working committees of all over the country. The Land Transport
Department under Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) will play an
important role in the NRSC secretariat by collecting, compiling and analyzing
periodical reports on road accidents. The Land Transport Department should
broadcast and propose to NRSC on how to initiate further road safety improvement.
The traffic police should be strengthened in both management and technical skills.
Traffic police needs to be trained and its capacity and skill upgraded. Adequate
equipment and facilities need to be provided as well.
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The research center/unit for road safety needs to be created immediately to carry out
the investigation on road environment, determine black spots, and analyze road
accident issues including costing accident losses. This unit may be responsible for
developing the annual country report on the road safety situation in Cambodia. Black
spots should be identified and the responsible agencies should take action to minimize
them. Road signs and signals, road markings, and traffic lights should be sufficiently
provided throughout the country, especially in urban areas.
Provide walkways and passing bridges for pedestrians at traffic-congested areas. The
road device structure should be designed according to sound engineering and should
be safe for the road users. Future road designs and road project implementation should
consider road safety audit and allocate budget to improve the road environment and
other safety issues.
Provide sufficient street lights and other facilities for traffic-congested road networks
in urban areas and cities. Rear and side markings for all vehicles running on the road
should be installed and visible during nighttime.
National format for accident recording should be developed and provided to all traffic
police officers in the whole country. ResNet or AsNet is an important system for
sharing data between involving agencies, at least one completed set should be
installed and operating in the MPWT. Technical and financial support for setting this
up is required.
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Launching awareness campaigns on traffic law and road safety is immediately
required. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS) should improve the road
traffic curriculum for school programs in complying with the new traffic law.
Education should be provided to the public including university students and monks.
Practical sessions should be included in the education and campaign program, should
be done regularly for the public or road users.
Minimizing overloading by mind-set of the truck and taxi drivers, could lead in
reduce fuel costs and eliminate illegal checking posts. Strengthening traffic law
enforcement and penalizing undisciplined drivers could lead to better driving habits
and reduce accident casualties.
VII. Conclusion
Road accidents are worrisome problems for the whole nation. These phenomena are
involving everyone in the society, so all members of society have to work hard and
closely cooperate to eliminate these things. In order to solve these matters effectively,
active participations of all people and competent institutions are needed, especially
the public must respect the law and find out how bad impacts resulting from the
ignorance of laws. Law states that all motorcyclists must wear helmets. If they are
ignore of what the law state, and do not wear helmets, they can lose their lives when
accident happen to them. The respect of the law is for personal safety of road
occupants themselves. To reduce traffic accident, not only wear helmets and fasten
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seatbelts, but all road users have to be careful during riding and driving, not to speed
and load up over what the law limited because overloading and speed-up are easy to
cause accident. Motorists must understand and patient with each another when
traveling on roads, and remember that if you are drunk, do not drive vehicles because
your own mistake and behavior can lose other’s life and property.
Law enforcement officials, especially traffic police, must also respect the law when
fulfilling their duties. The officials must not use powers to threaten and extort money
from people who do not know the law. Instead, they should explain and fine them
according to what the law states. Traffic police should be good example for the public
in respecting the law. They should not use violent acts against road users. Traffic
police also should equally implement the law among the powerful, the rich, and the
poor. In short, both citizens and law enforcement officials should properly respect the
traffic law for general safety, social development, and the image of the country.