The government has finished drafting a sub-decree that lays out the fines that will be levied against violators of the country’s new Land Traffic Law, officials said Tuesday.
The sub-decree, a copy of which was obtained Tuesday, lists specific violations and the fines that will be charged if drivers or passengers are found breaking them. It is expected to go into effect by the end of the year.
According to the sub-decree, motorbike drivers and passengers above the age of 3 are required to wear helmets, and will face a fine of 15,000 riel (about $3.75) if they are caught without them.
The sub-decree also sets fines for violations such as speeding, failing to obey road signs, driving without a license, using mobile phones and decorating vehicles “improperly” with lights. Fines for those violations range from 15,000 riel to 125,000 riel (about $31.25) depending on the size of the vehicle.
The legal alcohol limit for drivers remains 0.25 mg of alcohol per liter of breath when tested by a breathalyzer. The sub-decree, however, increases fines for those found to be above the legal limit to 30,000 riel (about $7.50) for motorbikes, 60,000 riel (about $15) for light vehicles such as cars and 125,000 riel (about $31.25) for heavy vehicles such as trucks.
If a driver is found with more than 0.40 mg/l of alcohol in his or her system, fines increase to between 800,000 riel (about $200) and 4 million riel (about $1,000).
Ty Long, deputy director of the National Police’s public order department, said Prime Minister Hun Sen needs to approve the sub-decree before it can go into effect.
“We are preparing to send the sub-decree to Prime Minister Hun Sen soon for him to sign off on,” Major General Long said.
He added that the sub-decree would be handed out to both police officers and the public over the next three months and could be implemented by the end of the year.
Chhuon Vuon, deputy director of the transport department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said officials from the Transport and Interior ministries finished drafting the sub-decree last week.
