• Society

Get Tough on Drunk Drivers: Sar Sokha

• By Chhum Chantha
• November 30, 2023 7:05 PM

PHNOM PENH – Interior Minister Sar Sokha has urged the chief of Phnom Penh police to enforce laws on drunk driving strictly as alcohol promotion becomes more widespread.

Sar Sokha, chairman of the National Road Safety Committee, spoke of his concern at the  launch of the National Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety on Nov. 30. 

“Alcohol consumption increases while alcohol advertising also becomes widespread,” he said. 

 “These are the challenges that could lead to road crashes. Each year, there are thousands of deaths caused by drunk driving. 

“It is mandatory for governments to take action on this matter.”  

Road crashes have a huge impact on a country's economy with a cost of millions of dollars, especially the loss of human resources. To reduce road accidents by 50 percent by 2030, drunk drivers would be punished severely. 

Sokha said 80 percent of road crashes were caused by alcohol consumption. 

Governments are committed to reducing road crashes in line with the Global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 of the World Health Organization and the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2020. 

The National Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 has been developed in line with the growth of all sectors, including road safety, population growth rate, economy and vehicles, development of road infrastructure, situation of road crash, good practice of law enforcement, and other issues related to the road crashes. 

The most recent figures for road crashes are from 2011 to 2020.   These show that crashes peaked in 2019 with the loss of nearly $470 million or 1.7 percent of GDP. This was 88 percent up on 2010. 

In the first 11 months of 2023, 1,431 people died due to drunk driving, down 245 on 2022, which caused a loss of $380 million.

 

Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Rin Ousa for Cambodianess.