CAMBODIA

will be the same as that for not having mirrors: 4,000 riel ($1). Police say they will also enforce other regulations at the same time, such as having a valid licence and number plate. We want to educate the public on the importance of wearing a helmet while riding, says Ung Chun Hour, director general of transport at the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC). We also want to encourage all national policemen to set an example on helmet wearing . Donor agencies such as Handicap International Belgium (Hib) and the Global Road Safety Partnership have supported the government with technical assistance aimed at training police officers on traffic law enforcement and good practice focused on reducing road fatalities and improving road safety in general. Activities have now turned to encouraging the public, in particular the student population, to accept the new regulations. We focus now on public awareness campaigns and community based education in the countryside, Hibs road safety project manager Meas Chandy told SE Globe. We are aiming at increasing the awareness of road users on the benefits and correct ways to wear a helmet, to promote the habit of helmet wearing for personal safety and respect of the traffic law. Since last week Ive had about 50 clients a day coming to buy helmets at prices from $7 to $30, said a helmet seller on Mao Tse Tung Boulevard. Selling helmets is good business. Meas Chandy believes profiteering is inevitable but Chun Hour said the government will inform shops to discount rather than raise helmet prices. A subcommittee will soon be established to check if the helmets at the markets are standardised, he said.
Yos Katank

Mirror, mirror: a student tries a crash helmet on for size before Januarys crackdown

Life in the fast lane

Cambodias appalling traffic accident fatality rate should decline with proper enforcement of the new helmet law

legislation

he equation is not a difficult one. In 2007, 1,545 people were killed and 7,150 injured on Cambodias roads one of the highest fatality rates of the Asean countries. Things only got worse in 2008. Seventy-five percent of the casualties were motorcyclists, only 3% of whom were wearing crash helmets. Eighty percent of motorbike fatalities are caused by injuries to the head. The simple conclusion that if you wear a crash hat on your motorbike you are more likely to survive an accident and if you dont, the likelihood is you wont, is apparently lost on the vast majority of Cambodian motorcyclists, who despite 2006s com-

pulsory helmet law and various information campaigns, still neglect to wear protection. This is likely to change in Phnom Penh from January with the police at last enforcing the helmet law in much the same way as they belatedly began enforcing the rear-view mirror law (also from 2006) in March 2008. Many might note that after a brief period of enforcement of the mirror law, and the collection of $5,000 in fines, the police seem to have lost interest and many motorbikes no longer have mirrors. This time round, though, the police claim they will pursue the law until all drivers of motos and tuk-tuks (but not passengers) wear helmets. The fine for not wearing one

Safety first: Hibs project manager Meas Chandy (above) and a typical bare-headed road scene (right)

Above board: the NRSCs Ung Chun Hour rules out excessive profiteering by helmet suppliers

28 SE GLOBE

Photos: Sovanara Khem for SE GLOBE