City’s 500,000 Motorcycles Now Require Mirrors

The Phnom Penh Municipality has ordered all motorcycle drivers to install wing mirrors on their ve­hi­cles and will soon allow traf­fic po­lice to start fining those caught with­out them, an official said.

The order came into effect Fri­day and applies to 500,000 motor­cyc­les on the streets of the capital, ac­­cording to a copy of the directive.

“Any motorbike driving without mirrors is breaking the traffic law,” deputy municipal governor Pa Socheatvong said. “We are giving people a week to test. We’ll see what the result will be.”

No one will be fined during the week­long trial period, but after that time the municipality will con­sider when the police can start fining people, and how much of­fend­ers will have to pay.

SRP lawmaker Son Chhay welcomed the new rule.

“I think mirrors are very important to save drivers. They only cost $1 or $2 but they can save people’s lives,” he said.

He added that the municipality should do all it can to ensure the rule is obeyed, as drivers often make dangerous turnoffs without look­ing behind them.

But Son Chhay also said that people should be given a timeframe of at least five months to in­stall mirrors before the police be­gin demanding fines.

If the public is only given a week, he said, the price of mirrors will likely inflate considerably as peo­ple rush to buy them.

He also said that the rule should not be selectively en­forced, and that police, military po­lice and the children of high-rank­ing government officials should be made subject to the law.

So Khom, a motorcycle taxi driver from Kandal province working in Phnom Penh, said he would obey the new rule.

“I will follow the order,” he said, adding that a mirror will make it much safer to turn off the road. “We will be able to see every­thing behind us,” he said.

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