Road accidents kill 961 people in Cambodia in 5 months

Road accidents kill 961 people in Cambodia in 5 months

PHNOM PENH, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Road accidents have killed at least 961 people in Cambodia in the first five months of 2014, up eight percent over the same period last year, the latest report of the Interior Ministry's public order department showed Monday.

Approximately 2,106 cases of road accidents were reported during the January-May period this year, up 11 percent over the same period last year, the report said.

Besides the deaths, the accidents had injured 3,486 others, slightly down compared to the same period last year, it said. Some 2,140 motorcycles and 1,100 cars were also damaged.

"Main causes of the accidents are due to high-speed driving (45 percent), alcohol driving (14 percent), and overtaking driving (10 percent)," said Him Yan, chief of the Interior Ministry's public order department, adding that the rest of the accidents were caused by neglect driving and traffic law violation.

With the population of 14.8 million, the country has roughly 410,000 registered cars, trucks and buses, and two million registered motorcycles, according to the figures of the Ministry of Public Work and Transportation.

Traffic accidents claimed 1,950 human lives last year. The Ministry of Public Work and Transportation estimated that the accidents cost the country about 300 million U.S. dollars a year.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140526/road-accidents-kill-961-people-cambodia-5-months