A member of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces involved in fatal hit-and-run while driving an RCAF vehicle will not be charged, police said yesterday.

The driver, identified as Phnom Penh resident Sorn Sambath, crashed into Pan Pon, 19, who was riding a moto on National Road 6 in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district on Wednesday. Sambath fled as Pon died.

Kampong Thom traffic police chief Rum Sovichea said the deceased student was at fault. “He drove carelessly and turned left into the gas station and got hit by the car,” he said.

A relative of the victim, who asked not to be named, said the RCAF offered 8 million riel (about $2,000) to the family, but family members sought $3,500.

Military police spokesman Eng Hy denied on Facebook local media reports the driver was two-star general Sie Sambath.

Department of traffic police director Run Roth Veasna said the law was implemented fairly. “According to law, the party in question has to stop and take the victim to hospital if he is still alive,” he said. “But in Cambodia, as you know, you or I must flee if you see an angry mob carrying machetes.”