The government’s committee on traffic safety is urging all travelers to exercise caution on the roads as they begin the three-day New Year holiday.
The roads are heavily trafficked in the run-up to the holiday, with many accidents coming from drunk or careless driving.
In only three days over last year’s celebrations, 52 people were killed and 233 seriously injured in more than 500 accidents, the National Committee for Traffic Safety said in a statement Wednesday.
Him Yann, chief of traffic police for Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer that as much as 80 percent of the capital’s population will travel to the countryside to celebrate the coming Year of the Tiger.
“If we don’t pay attention to traffic accidents, they will happen all the time,” he said. “Drunk drivers are banned."