Kandal provincial governor Kong Sophorn has called for the provincial traffic police to step up enforcement activities – especially regarding drivers who break the speed limit or operate their vehicles while intoxicated – in a bid to reduce traffic accidents.
While addressing a June 6 meeting to set the provincial administration’s June working direction, Sophorn urged police officers to enforce all traffic laws as stringently as possible.
“I want all speed limits to be strictly enforced, and I want all drunk drivers off the roads. If a person is consuming alcohol, they must sober up before they operate a vehicle, without exception,” he said.
He instructed the governors of Kandal’s three towns and 10 districts, and all relevant departments to cooperate with traffic police officers to educate the province’s road users about their responsibilities when they got behind the wheel, or rode their motorcycles.
Kong Sovann, founder and strategic advisor of the Cambodia Safety Solution Organisation, expressed his support for stricter enforcement.
He noted that the most significant factors in most traffic accidents were excess speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and a lack of patience and tolerance for other road users.
“Of course, high speeds make the consequences of any accident far more serious,” he said.
“Reducing the accident rate requires all road users to respect the laws, as well as each other. Close attention to law enforcement is also crucial,” he added.
According to Sophorn, Kandal province has successfully implemented a serious approach to reducing traffic accident rates.
In the first quarter of 2023, only 33 accidents were recorded in the province, a 44 per cent reduction on the 59 that were recorded during the same period last year.
The Ministry of Interior shared nationwide accident statistics for the first four months of 2023, and compared them to the same period in 2022.
“The number of recorded traffic accidents fell by 154, or 13 per cent, while the number of fatalities reduced by 180 or 26 per cent. Injuries fell 18 per cent,” it said.
