Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Motor accidents are bad in Cambodia !! Be very careful about travelling there...

Warning to all studens and travellers in Cambodia

Car / vehicle crashes are common and are usually bad, especially outside of Phnom Penh and other towns (where traffic makes traveling speeds slower). People drive too fast and nearly always in rickety, badly maintained vehicles which would be banned from the roads in many other countries. Dont get trapped into being in a dangerous driving situation. Tell the driver to slow down, even pay him to do so, and if he does not, then get him to stop the vehicle and find another. Ask around before you go with any particular driver. Overland taxi's overcrowd their vehicles (putting up to 8 or 9 people in small cars). Dont use them !! If you have to, pay for the whole vehicle and insist absolutely that they drive slowly. Crashes at speed will kill you ... !!

Sarah writes..
."About 30 mins in we had a bit of a reality check, there was a crowd gathered as we came to an intersection, which almost always means one thing…an accident. We drove past slowly to avoid the crowd and I was just waiting to see something I didn’t want to see...the people involved in the crash. Luckily there was no people there, just the aftermath from the bikes…one was ripped in half, the front wheel completely missing, there was debris everywhere and a fitting reminder of what can happen, especially if not dressed appropriately…a pair of thongs were the only sign of the driver. We all fell silent as we passed and I was glad to be driven by girls that were very careful with their speed, a bit different to the young boys around town."

3 persons die every day from road traffic accidents in Cambodia.
Road traffic fatalities have doubled over the last three years.
Traffic increases by more than 10% every year.
Cambodia has the second highest road traffic fatality rate (number of fatalities/10,000 vehicles) in the
region. This rate is ten times higher than in developed countries and twice as high than the ASEAN
average6.
18% of road traffic casualties reported in Cambodia occur in Phnom Penh.
People aged between 15 and 24 years old account for 48% of casualties although they represent
only 24% of the population.
Males account for 71% of casualties, although they account for only 48% of the population.
Motorcyclists account for the large majority of casualties (76%), followed by pedestrians (9%) and car
users (7%).
Students14 represent the largest group of casualties (22.5% of casualties), followed by workers
(22%) and vendors/small businesses (18%).
In total, more than 4% of casualties die either at the scene of the accident or of their injuries
later (an average of 17 fatalities per month).
In total, 65% of casualties suffer from head injuries.
- 9% of them are considered as severe15.
- 80% of casualties suffering from head injuries are motorbike users. Among them, only 4.39% are
wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
A higher number of casualties occur on Saturdays and Sundays17, especially during night time.
Nighttime accidents are responsible for 39% of casualties.
Two peaks of casualties are observed: at noon and at 9 pm.
Alcohol/drug abuse is responsible for 15% of casualties.
In total , human error is responsible for more than 90% of casualties.
Motorbike-motorbike collisions are responsible for 36% of the casualties, followed by motorbike-car
collisions (25%) and motorbike-pedestrian collisions (6%).
- 6% of motorbike casualties fell alone.
- An average of 3.6 persons are involved and 2.1 are injured in each accident.

3 comments:

Zaaky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
somewhere said...

Hello,

I'm a medical student from the UK, and I've had my elective semi-organised to come to Chey Chumneas since last summer. however, I've emailed several times in the past month to finally confirm my dates and I've had no reply. Does anybody have another way in which i could get in touch?

Thanks,

Katie

Unknown said...

I just hope that the warning through this post will make travelers & students equally aware of the worst accident situations they might come across while traveling on highways or roads in Cambodia. It is not only Phnom Penh or other towns but the whole world is becoming the breeding ground of motor accidents these days. It is because the people prefer to drive too fast under the influence of alcohol or travel in old vehicles which should definitely be banned from the roads. Not obeying to traffic safety rules & using overcrowded vehicles often invite the risk of accident injuries. So drivers should always drive slow, use helmet & use vehicles in good condition. If you meet with an accident despite taking all such precautions then a personal injury lawyer would help you get deserving compensation claims easily. For more information visit Personal injury lawyers .