Cambodia Road Safety Review

The need for road safety interventions to help prevent disabilities has been recognized by Handicap International (HI), an NGO, and a new field of work is being undertaken by its staff, particularly in South East Asia. The need to increase the priority given to road safety has also been recognized by the World Health Organization, The World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. HI had been co-operating with Cambodian authorities, hospitals and rehabilitation centers for several years and wished to identify concrete and relevant action that they may take in order to help tackle the growing problem of accidents, particularly with regards to motorcyclists. Exploratory mission were undertaken for HI by a Road Safety Specialist to design a publicity campaign to increase wearing of motorcycle helmets and later to produce an action plan.

Brief Description of Services Provided
The first mission was to carry out research into the accident problem and to look for opportunities for initiatives. Thus meetings were held with the main participants in road safety, including the Highway Department, hospitals, the Traffic Police, Red Cross Associations and potential sponsors. Hospital accident data showed that 5 times as many road users were injured compared to official Police statistics and that motorcyclists accounted for nearly 60% of the total accidents. Helmet wearing usage amounted to less than 5%. A proposal was written to promote helmet wearing including the provision of free helmets to motorcycle taxi drivers (“moto-dops”)

The second visit involved a workshop with HI staff and local officials. The aim was to develop an action plan strategy for HI to work with design consultants on a World Bank Highway Project. HI discussed and agreed to carry out initiatives in two main fields as follows:

• To raise awareness of road safety in areas covered by the Highway Project
• To integrate road safety issues into the construction process.

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