Nearly 25 percent of road traffic accidents reported by traffic police across the country are hit-and-run cases in which the driver flees the scene, according to the most recent traffic monitoring report released by the NGO Handicap International.
Road Safety Education Officer with Handicap International, Sann Socheata, said that 920 casualties had been reported in August and that 23 percent of the accidents were hit and runs.
Traffic police did not arrive at the scene fast enough and had little success investigating cases afterward, she said.
“If we just ignore this the number [of hit-and-runs] will increase because the [culprits] can [cause an accident] and run away.”
More than a month after five of her family members were killed in a tragic road accident that killed eight people, Long Chhunly, 46, said Sunday that police had not yet arrested the second of two suspects responsible for crashing a car into her family’s food stall on Sept 12.
When police arrived 20 minutes after the crash, a group of onlookers had caught one of the men
but the other man got away on foot in the confusion, Long Chhunly said.
“I want the police to ask the man they have already arrested to give [the police] more information so they can get the other man,” she said. “I have heard the traffic police know who he is, where he lives, and where he works,” she added.
Phnom Penh Traffic Police Chief Kim Yideth said that police know the suspect’s identity but are waiting orders from the municipal court’s investigating judge to take action.
(Additional reporting by Van Roeun)
