Officials from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said 60 per cent of cars on the road have not been inspected and starting July 1, the ministry will begin issuing fines to owners of cars with overdue inspection dates at a rate of 2,000 riel ($0.50) per overdue day.

Department of Land Transport director-general Choun Vorn said at a press conference on Tuesday that the total number of registered vehicles with the ministry is close to six million, 80 per cent of which are motorcycles.

Vorn said: “When I asked the officer for the actual data, some of the cars were out of date for many years and some never came for an inspection.”

The National Police announced that the authorities have delayed fines for out-of-date vehicles after observing people rushing to get their cars inspected, causing traffic jams at their entrances.

Vorn said since the new sub-decree was implemented on May 1, masses of people had started taking their cars to inspection shops.

Officials have had to work on the weekend and late at night to keep up with the requests.

He suggested that motorists get their cars inspected before the July 1 deadline, because after that, they will start to be fined.

National Police deputy chief and secretary-general of the National Road Safety Committee Him Yan said at the conference that traffic police have issued fines to 14,271 motorcycle riders and 4,733 motorists since May 1.

He further said that 79 per cent of the fines for motorcyclists were issued because they didn’t wear helmets.

Motorcyclists riding without licence plates accounted for 10 per cent of the fines and disobeying traffic lights and signs made up eight per cent.

The last two per cent of motorcyclists were issued fines for riding while talking on the phone, riding while carrying excessive items and riding under the influence of alcohol.

He said 48 per cent of motorists were fined for not wearing seat belts and 26 per cent were fined for exceeding the speed limit.

Disobeying traffic signs, overloading vehicles, and using mobile phones while driving accounted for six per cent each of fines issued to motorists.

Driving without a licence made up four per cent of the fines while driving without licence plates accounted for the remaining three per cent.

Yan said that the government had given vehicle owners four months to fulfil their obligations properly according to the law.

“[I] would like to inform that the tightening of traffic laws continues unabated because the National Road Safety Committee and the Royal government alike determined that this year is the year to enforce the law,” Yan said.

In the first week of May, 43 traffic accidents were recorded – a decline of 54 per cent from last year. And out of them, there were 24 fatalities – a decline of 40 per cent from last year.

The accidents injured 56 people – a decline of about 50 per cent from the same period last year.

Yan said if accidents keep declining, the government will be well on its way to ensuring road safety in the Kingdom.