On the road

Today's Cambodia Daily reported, 'Two Dead, 15 injured in Traffic Accident in Pursat'. Last Friday night a man and an infant died, and 15 others were injured, after a Toyota Camry collided with a home-made truck on National Road 5.

That's the problem with home-made trucks. That's the problem with speeding Camry's.

Last weekend I did the 300km round trip to Siem Reap by moto. The highways were shared by cars, trucks, tractors, motorbikes, bicycles, kids walking home from school and the occasional stray animal. Some of those vehicles average around 120-140km per hour. Primary school children walk at about 3km per hour. Trucks break down and drivers put down branches to warn other motorists of the danger until they can make repairs and get going again. At night time many home made vehicles don't have back lights. That's why, as my friends Andrew & Whitney noted on their blog on March 11, 'accidents happen'.

Photos of overloaded, overcrowded trucks, tuk tuks and motos make an interesting souvenir book. However, we need to remember that every day in Cambodia, 4 people are killed and 100 people die on the roads, making this the second 'disaster' after HIV/AIDS causing loss of life and livelihood.