The National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) is preparing a National Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, an adaptation of a UN initiative, to cut road injuries and fatalities in half by 2030.
Min Manavy, Ministry of Public Works and Transport secretary of state and NRSC secretary-general, revealed this at a workshop on road safety in this decade, held from June 22-23 and attended by officials of the NRSC General Secretariat and the interior and public works ministries, as well as other partners.
The workshop presented the result of the work, the challenges and experiences surrounding the 2011-2020 iteration of the national plan, and collected input from national and international institutions and other partners for this decade’s plan.
Manavy said an uptrend in road accidents over a decade ago prompted the UN to advise member countries to launch national plans for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent. She commented that Cambodia fell short of that goal.
She noted that some of the measures in the latest national plan were those agreed upon at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety held in Sweden in February 2020, and a UN Asia-Pacific declaration made on October 28, 2021.
In 2021, the number of road accidents totalled 2,670, down by 509 or 16 per cent over 2020, while injuries came to 3,615, down by 1,071 or 23 per cent year-on-year.
Similarly, 1,497 fatalities were recorded last year, down by 149 or nine per cent. At this rate, this would translate to more than 61 per cent over a decade, resulting in the success of the national plan.
Phnom Penh saw the highest number of fatalities of all first-level administrative regions in the country, at 245, followed by the provinces of Kandal (141) and Kampong Cham (96).
The main cause of road accidents was reported as speeding, which accounted for 38 per cent, followed by failure to yield right of way (24 per cent), failure to keep right (14 per cent), inappropriate overtaking (eight per cent), reckless turning (eight per cent), drunk-driving (three per cent), and sleeping (one per cent).
Other contributing factors to road casualties included failure to wear a helmet or seatbelt.
