The National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) created a Telegram group @traffic6789 on January 6 with the name “Our Road Safety” in Khmer in order to provide and receive information concerning road traffic accidents and road traffic law violations.
This is the latest entry in NRSC’s catalogue of social media channels aimed at curbing road accidents and traffic law violations.
The Telegram group comes at the recommendation of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who on January 3 suggested it be created to make it easier for the public to report traffic violations to authorities and better familiarise themselves with the rules of the road.
In a statement on January 6, NRSC called for the ethical reporting of traffic accidents and violations and other pertinent issues, with clear indications of time and place and relevant images and videos attached whenever possible.
“Please refrain from posting fake news or false reports that could be used to incite, slander or otherwise undermine the dignity of others. Withhold inappropriate language or sexually-explicit images. Such actions are liable to legal prosecution,” it said. “Do not post anything that isn’t relevant to road traffic safety.”
The NRSC highlighted that these public contributions would help improve road traffic safety in Cambodia.
Luy Hok, a resident who joined the channel said that he supports the creation of it as it makes it easy for people to report information regarding traffic accidents and violation. He also urged the public to be ethical in posting information to this public group; only news should be posted, not fake news.
“I believe that this Telegram group is beneficial in helping reduce traffic accident if people who post the information respect ethic. This group should not be posted with smearing or something about politics,” he said.
Phan Sereysak, another Cambodian who joined the group, said he liked the group because it gives the members up-to-date information on traffic jams and road conditions.
“I just joined the group recently and I’ve been seeing other people’s posts about traffic congestion and where to take detours and posts about roads under maintenance. I think it could bring a lot of benefits, especially for professional drivers and the transport sector,” he said.
