Amid celebrations and ceremonies that centre
on happiness, we often lose sight of the tragedy that holidays can bring.
Traffic-related
injuries and fatalities still remain the case of concern as the Kingdom gears
up to celebrate the Khmer New Year.
International
NGO Handicap International has explored an important correlation in the numbers
between traffic accidents and national holidays.
“Khmer
New Year brings an increase in the amount of traffic accidents, more than any
other national holiday because of the amount of travel,” according to Sem
Panhavuth, manager of Road Crashes and Victims Information Systems (RCVIS) of
Handicap International Cambodia.
After
last New Year, local media and government offices were filled with reports on
traffic accidents. The Phnom Penh Post and a report made public by the Ministry
of Interior stated that spanning the 13-17 of April 2011, traffic accidents
caused 58 fatalities and 484 injuries.
The
Ministry of Interior’s report also cited an increase in traffic accidents for
the year 2011. While 33 per cent of crashes were a result of speeding, 20 per
cent were a result of drink diving and 26 per cent resulted from traffic
violations.
That
made traffic accidents Cambodia’s biggest murderer in 2011, along with
HIV/AIDS.
On
March 29, 2011, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport confirmed that that
the government was losing roughly US$284 million per year to road accidents –
another wake-up call to the nation.
Formal
statistics for the second half of 2011 will be released in mid-April, according
to Chhoung Voun, Head of Statistics and Road Safety Division of the National
Road Safety Committee. However, he said that motorbikes are the most common
vehicle involved in traffic accidents.
Sem
Panhavuth confirmed that Handicap International Cambodia also found that most
accidents occurred with those riding motorbikes.
Meanwhile,
he said, overcrowded taxis also play a large role in the danger – and perhaps
have a bigger impact – since such a high volume of passengers are involved in
the accident.
Sem
Panhavuth explained that if young Cambodians band together to address this
growing problem, then the government can spend less on traffic accidents and
build up schools, health centres and other public institutions instead.
He
added that the trauma of a traffic accident is not worth the pain and
heart-ache.
“If a
family is affected by a traffic accident, that family will definitely face many
crises – physical, emotional and economic,” Sem Panhavuth said.
For
this week’s Constructive Cambodia, Kim Panha, Country Director of Asia Injury
Prevention, weighed in to recommend that young Cambodians raise awareness to
the issue.
“From
my working experience, traffic accidents in our country are mostly caused by
youth,” he said. “So my advice to young Cambodians is to respect traffic law,
like road signs and the speed limit, while travelling – and to especially avoid
drink driving and racing.”
Touch
Yin Vannith and Ou Banung
The
Phom Penh Post
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