Motorists who have not paid their tickets since the new traffic law came into force in January will be sent to court if they do not produce the cash in the next 15 days, according to the National Police.
In its first such warning, the National Police’s public order department released a statement listing the names of 67 people who have not settled their tickets at police stations across the country. The offenders were pulled over for not wearing helmets, not stopping at traffic lights and carrying too many passengers on a motorbike, among other violations.
“Those who fail to pay the fine in the [15-day] time period, including the owner of the vehicle and all drivers, will face court,” the department said.
Tha Pharin, a self-employed trucker who was fined 50,000 riel, or about $12.50, for overloading his vehicle with vegetables in March, said he would immediately pay the fee.
“I forgot to pay because I was busy with my business, but I will go pay because I don’t want to go to court,” he said.
Run Rathveasna, director of the public order department, said the list of names released on Wednesday was not comprehensive, and that his office would release more notifications in their attempts to enforce the new traffic law, which requires motorists to pay fines at local police stations, rather than directly to the officers who pull them over.
Lieutenant General Rathveasna said the named-and-shamed motorists would be held accountable under the law’s Sub-Decree on Provisional Penalties, which states that unpaid fines double after 30 days and triple after 60 days.
He added that the law had already served to reduce road fatalities by 10 percent during the first half of 2016, compared to the same period last year.
“We can see that enforcement of the new Land Traffic Law is effective, even if it doesn’t work 100 percent,” he said.
