Fewer Traffic Deaths, More Injuries Over Pchum Ben Holiday

Traffic accidents over the Pchum Ben holiday dropped from last year, according to numbers released yesterday by the National Police, though officials in individual provinces noted mixed results.

Across the country there were 125 traffic accidents that resulted in 18 deaths and 279 injuries, National Police spokesman Kirth Chan-tharith said. Last year 131 accidents killed 28 people and injured 262, he added. Despite the injuries, Mr Chantharith called the results an overall improvement because of the lower death rate.

According to Mr Chantharith, the decrease in fatal accidents is tied to an increased effort to educate the public about traffic laws, a sentiment echoed by local official.

?Nothing happened seriously over Pchum Ben this year because police were patrolling many places for security, and also they disseminated by radio the message of driving safely,? said Thorn Sokhun, Siem Reap provincial traffic police chief, who saw one serious accident in his province during the holiday.

Not every place fared so well, however. Pen Khun, deputy Phnom Penh municipal traffic police chief, said Monday that he did not have numbers for the Pchum Ben holiday weekend but noted that 15 people had died on the roads between Sept 5 and Monday, three times the number of deaths over the same period in 2008.

In Preah Sihanouk province one person died and 28 were injured during the weekend, while last year there were just seven injuries and one death, said Keth Sopheak, deputy provincial traffic police chief.

Crime, too, dropped across the country over the holiday compared to last year, according to Mr Chantharith. Over the long weekend, police reported 15 misdemeanors, including 11 assaults, and four felonies: one murder, one rape and two robberies. In total, 21 people were injured and three motorbikes stolen, he said. Last year, he said, there were 11 felonies and 23 misdemeanors over the holiday.

Sourced= The Cambodia Daily