Road safety still in the slow lane

Twenty-six people died and another 85 were seriously injured on roads in the final three days of Pchum Ben this year. 

The toll is only marginally fewer than last year, when 75 separate traffic accidents caused 98 people to be admitted to hospital with serious injuries and 25 fatalities in the space of three days. 

The figures showed driver road safety had not progressed, Pea Kimvong, head of education and safety campaigns at the National Road Safety Committee said, blaming drunk driving and speeding for the continuing high toll. 

Battambang and Prey Veng were the worst places to be on the nation’s roads, according to the Ministry of Interior, which rang up 71 cases of traffic accidents over the peak three days of the national holiday.