National Road 4 from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and National Road 6 in the northwest were the deadliest to travel on this Khmer New Year, police said.
Officials in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville municipalities and Kompong Thom, Siem Reap, Kompong Cham, Kompong Speu and Takeo provinces reported at least 30 people dead just in those areas.
Final data for accidents will not be available until later in the month, and officials with the Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System—which gathers data from police, hospitals and private clinics—have not yet compiled nationwide accident data from the weekend.
But at least 20 died in 10 accidents in Kompong Thom over the three-day holiday, including eight in a single massive accident on National Road 6, provincial traffic police chief Chhuon Chhaya said.
The accident rate was double that of last year, he said, adding that half the accidents involved drunk drivers. Two died and 18 were injured in eight accidents in Sihanoukville, deputy municipal traffic police chief Keth Sopheak said. “Drivers like to get in front of other vehicles,” he added.
One person died on National Road 4 in Phnom Penh, deputy municipal traffic police chief Pen Khun said. There were 10 accidents in the capital this holiday, compared with eight in 2006, when no fatalities occurred, he added.
“National Road 4 is the most dangerous place,” he said. Most serious accidents happen when motorists are speeding on national roads, he added.
According to the RTAVIS 2005 annual report, an average of about 90 casualties per day occurred during Khmer New Year in 2005, compared with an average of 40 per day all year. The RTAVIS 2006 annual report will be released later this month.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Tomei)
