PHNOM PENH: There were 1,548 traffic accidents in the first six months of 2023, resulting in 756 deaths and 2,072 injuries, of which 1,332 were serious injuries. More than half of the accidents occurred at night.

According to the report of the Traffic Police and Public Order Department of the National Police, the leading cause of accidents was speeding at 39%, followed by 25% for not respecting the ‘right of way’, 4% for drunk driving, 3% for drowsiness, 1% of accidents were weather-related.

Among the fatalities, 81% were motorcyclists and 73% of those were not wearing helmets. Most of the fatalities occurred in Phnom Penh (458) followed by Sihanoukville (121) and Pursat (104).

When compared to the same time last year, traffic accidents are down 4%, while the number of fatalities is down 20% and the number of injuries is down 7%. In the first half of 2022, there were 1,609 traffic accidents, resulting in 942 deaths and 2,235 injuries.

According to the report, 143 accidents occurred on the new Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway in the first half of the year, damaging 148 vehicles, killing three people and injuring 44.