PHNOM PENH, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of deaths and injuries in Cambodia, costing the Southeast Asian nation about 466 million U.S. dollars a year, according to a new report released on Wednesday.
Jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC), the report said in 2019, Cambodia saw more than 2,000 deaths and almost 13,700 injuries due to traffic accidents, with an average of 5.4 people dying daily.
"This makes road traffic the leading cause of deaths and injuries in the kingdom," the report said. "The number of fatalities caused by road traffic accidents has increased nearly 25 percent over the past 11 years (2009-2019), higher than the population growth for the same period of 17 percent."
The report showed that three-fourth of the fatalities are motorbike users, followed by pedestrians, family car users, and goods vehicle users.
It added that over 80 percent of all registered vehicles involved in road accidents were motorbikes and most fatalities occurred on national roads and within capital Phnom Penh.
Road user behavior is the main factor when assessing road accident fatalities.
Use of alcohol and drugs, speeding, ignoring traffic rules, and use of phone while driving are main causes of traffic accidents, the report said, adding that human errors contributed about 98 percent of crashes, and 16 percent of the crash casualties were fatalities.
UNDP and NRSC re-estimated the cost of road traffic accidents in Cambodia for the first time in 10 years and found this to be 466 million U.S. dollars for 2019, equivalent to 1.7 percent of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the report said, adding that of this total cost, 88.8 percent is due to loss of life and associated lifetime earnings.
UNDP resident representative Nick Beresford said this is the first time an in-depth piece of analysis has been done on such a large database of road traffic accidents, and it provides some real insights as to what is associated with deaths on the road.
"It is not really about being young or being male. It's about alcohol, drugs, ignoring traffic rules, and phone use while driving," he said. "In short, it's how you behave that determines loss of life in traffic accidents."
Transport Ministry secretary of state Mean Manvy, who is also NRSC's general secretary, said that the report will provide important insights for creating effective road safety initiatives and policies.
"This will allow the Royal Government, NGOs and private entities to work on strengthening road safety in Cambodia to contribute to reducing traffic accidents and casualties," she said. Enditem
