IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

IATSS Research

Overview

Traffic problems in Southeast Asia featuring the case of Cambodia's traffic

accidents involving motorcycles
Yuto Kitamura a,⁎, Makiko Hayashi b, Eriko Yagi c
a
Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
b
Sacred Heart Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of the Sacred Heart, Japan
c
Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This article provides the background to the special issue by reviewing the status of traffic problems in South East
Received 1 June 2018 Asian countries, and in particular, the case of Cambodia. The “Make Roads Safe” report by the Commission for
Received in revised form 12 September 2018 Global Road Safety (2011) confirms traffic accidents as the primary cause of youth mortality worldwide. Thus,
Accepted 5 November 2018
the United Nations declared the decade from 2011 to 2020 as the “UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-
Available online 27 November 2018
2020”, promoting road safety and to reduce the number of deaths in road accidents by 2020. Furthermore, the
Keywords:
“Sustainable Development Goals” adopted in 2015 highlight the important role of sustainable transport in tack-
Traffic accidents ling the exclusion of vulnerable groups. On the other hand, the World Health Organization in 2015 indicate an
Motorcycle increase in the death rate due to traffic accidents in low-income countries since 2000. Traffic accidents were al-
Youth ready recognized as a social problem before the 2000s in countries such as Thailand and the Philippines. At the
Cambodia same time, other ASEAN member states such as Vietnam and Cambodia which have experienced rapid economic
Developing countries growth since the 2000s are now experiencing the seriousness of traffic problems. It is said that 70% of road acci-
Southeast Asia dents in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos involve motorcycles and three-wheelers, but despite this situation, the reg-
ulatory framework for motorcycles remains undeveloped. In the case of Cambodia, speeding by young people
remains the major cause of road deaths and this can be explained by the fact that people can now travel at a
higher speed because of road developments but remaining challenges related to underdeveloped traffic legisla-
tion, and limited public awareness and knowledge of road safety are overlooked. In 2010, the Cambodian Na-
tional Road Safety Action Plan 2010–2020 was drafted, aiming to halve the number of deaths in traffic
accidents in 2020. However, in reality, the number of road deaths did not decrease to the level anticipated in
the action plan until 2016. In this article, the authors emphasize the importance of implementing the “three
Es” namely Engineering, Enforcement and Education in developing countries such as Cambodia. In particular,
the authors claim that the role of education to increase people's road safety awareness is neglected compared
to the other two dimensions and thus, it is highly important to raise people's road safety awareness through ed-
ucation among the young people.
© 2018 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction instruction is limited. Consequently, road users' low level of normative

Today, many developing countries worldwide are experiencing
rapid economic growth. With it, the traffic environment is also changing
quickly. In many developing countries, while the number of users of
motorized two-wheelers (hereafter motorcycles) and motorized four-
wheelers (hereafter automobile vehicles) is dramatically expanding,
the opportunity to receive complete road safety education and driving
Peer review under responsibility of International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences.
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yuto@p.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Y. Kitamura).
awareness and underdeveloped driving skills contribute to accidents
and increase traffic congestion. In particular, the number of traffic acci-
dents among the young (aged from the late teens to early 20s) is
increasing.
One country where this situation can be observed is Cambodia in
South East Asia. In 2015, the International Association of Traffic and
Safety Sciences (IATSS) implemented a project to “develop ‘normative
awareness’ and promote appropriate ‘driving behavior’ to realize a
safe traffic society in Cambodia” in Phnom Penh, the capital city of
Cambodia. The project (1) examined the traffic situation in Cambodia;
(2) surveyed the traffic awareness of the young (high school and uni-
versity students); (3) examined young people's (high school and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2018.11.001
0386-1112/© 2018 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
164 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170
university students) motorcycle driving behavior; (4) piloted road
safety education for the young based on research findings; (5) surveyed
the impact of the new traffic light system in Phnom Penh, which is sup-
ported by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA); and
(6) provided motorcycle driving skills instruction to the traffic police-
men who will deliver road safety education. Our research was con-
ducted over a period of three years. The pilot version of road safety
education had not been conducted in Cambodia before and attracted at-
tention from those involved in traffic issues in the country (the Ministry
of Public Work and Traffic, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Phnom Penh
Police, JICA Cambodia, traffic consultants, and so on). Furthermore, the
pilot was featured in the mass media (newspapers and television
news programs).
The special issue of IATSS Research provides our recommendations
for the improvement or resolution of traffic problems in Cambodia
and other developing countries. The current article provides the back-
ground to the special issue by detailing the status of traffic problems
in South East Asian countries, in particular, in Cambodia.
1.1. Status of traffic problems in South East Asia
According to the “UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020)”
(UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/255) adopted in March
2010, around 1.3 million people are killed on the road and more than
50 million injured every year. The “Make Roads Safe” report by the Com-
mission for Global Road Safety (2011) confirms traffic accidents as the
primary cause of youth mortality worldwide [1]. The Chair of the Com-
mission for Global Road Safety [1] emphasizes that “one of the reasons
the problem has not been addressed is the absence of accountability of
road safety at the international and domestic levels” [1].
For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the WHO [2] and Commission for
Global Road Safety [1,3] reported that AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis
attracted the most attention as causes of death in developing countries
around the year 2000. However, examining the changes in each cause
of death since 2000, while the number of deaths caused by AIDS rapidly
increased until 2005, it has decreased since then. For tuberculosis and
malaria, the number of deaths consistently decreased until 2015. In con-
trast, the number of deaths caused by road traffic accidents has been in-
creasing since 2000. It is widely acknowledged in international society
that traffic problems are important when thinking about people's lives.
Thus, the United Nations (UN) declared the decade from 2011 to 2020
as the “UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020,” promoting
road safety by setting a target to reduce the number of deaths in road ac-
cidents by 2020 from the estimated 1.9 million to 900,000.
Furthermore, the UN established a high-level consultant group on
sustainable transport in 2014, which published Mobilizing Sustainable
Transport for Development (2016), a report presenting proposals to pro-
mote sustainable transport [4]. Following these deliberations, the “Sus-
tainable Development Goals (SDGs)” adopted in 2015 highlight the
Fig. 1. Comparison of causes of death worldwide (2000–2015). Source: WHO, 2016 [2].
The income classification is according to the World Bank Indicators 2013 (Low = ≤ US$
1045 per capita; Middle = US$ 1046 to US$ 12,745; High = ≥ US$ 12,746)
important role of sustainable transport in tackling the social exclusion
of vulnerable groups. Specifically, Goal 3 “Good health and wellbeing
for people” and Goal 11 “Sustainable cities and communities” include
goals related to road safety and sustainable transport.
According to WHO [5], 74 percent of global road traffic accidents
occur in low-income countries, and when the numbers in low and
middle-income countries are combined, it accounts for 90 percent of
the global figure. In addition, most of the global population lives in
low and middle-income countries. Still, the number of registered vehi-
cles in these countries accounts for 54 percent of the global total, and
the number of traffic accidents is large in proportion to the number of
vehicles. The fact that the death rate in high-income countries has de-
creased between 2000 and 2015 but increased in low-income countries
indicates the seriousness of traffic problems in developing countries
(see Figs. 2 and 3)
Under these international circumstances, recently, awareness of
road safety has been rising, especially in the South East Asian region.
Since the 1990s, the member states of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) have witnessed significant economic growth.
As a result, they have also seen rapid motorization, and in leading
ASEAN member states such as Singapore, Thailand, and the
Philippines, traffic accidents were already recognized as a social prob-
lem before the 2000s. On the other hand, late starters among ASEAN
member states such as Vietnam and Cambodia, which have experienced
rapid economic growth since the 2000s, have started experiencing sim-
ilar problems. Consequently, reducing the number of road accident
deaths is widely considered a major social challenge. Table 1 compares
the number of deaths by traffic accidents by region, indicating that the
absolute number of deaths is higher in South East Asia than in other re-
gions (however, the mortality rate per capita is higher in Africa) [5].
Furthermore, as Fig. 4 shows, Brunei and Singapore in South East Asia
have a low rate of road deaths, which is similar to that in western coun-
tries such as the Netherlands where the number of road deaths is lowest
in the world, although this is the exception. The number of road deaths
in Thailand and Malaysia, both middle-income countries, is extremely
high, suggesting that traffic problems have worsened alongside eco-
nomic growth. Fig. 4 also indicates a very high number of road deaths
for low-income countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar.
Many factors underlie the rapid increase of traffic accidents, which
has become a major social problem. For example, in cities in South
East Asian countries, pedestrians, motorcycles, automobile vehicles,
and vehicles peculiar to South East Asian countries (e.g., motorcycle
taxis and three-wheeler tuk-tuks) use the road in a chaotic manner.
The road traffic infrastructure is underdeveloped and social institutions
such as a driving license system are not well established. Furthermore,
education measures to improve people's awareness of road safety are
not fully developed and implemented. These factors are intertwined in
a complex manner, worsening traffic congestion and accidents.1 In par-
ticular, in many South East Asian countries, priority is still given to mo-
torcycles and automobile vehicles, while pedestrians are often
overlooked. Economic development is still emphasized over road safety.
The use of motorcycles is especially high in South East Asian coun-
tries from the global perspective. Fig. 5 shows the share of the motorcy-
cles per population in the region. When considering traffic problems in
South East Asia, an investigation of problems related to motorcycles is
essential.2 Fig. 6 delineates the means of transport used by those killed
1
For details of these traffic problems in South East Asian countries, see IATSS (2004) [7].
2
For example, in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, the
number of registered motorcycles per 1000 residents is between 50 and 250 vehicles.
Compared to the number of registered automobile vehicles, this is more than 25 times that
in Vietnam, and 5 times that in Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, which is very high
(Fukuda, Nakamura & Takeuchi, 2004, p. 7) [8]. However, because there are huge discrep-
ancies between the number of registered vehicles and those sold, as well as a large number
of copied and rebuilt vehicles, it is difficult to ascertain an accurate figure for the number of
motorcycles in use. This means that more motorcycles than those registered are in use in
South East Asian countries.
 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170
Population Road trafic accidents
High Income Middle Income Low Income High Income Middle Income
Low High Low
12% 18% 16%
Middle Middle
70%
Fig. 2. Population, road traffic deaths and registered motorized vehicles, by country income status. (Source: WHO [5]). The income classification is according to the World Bank Indicators
2013 (Low = ≤ US$ 1045 per capita; Middle = US$ 1046 to US$ 12,745; High = ≥ US$ 12,746).
in traffic accidents, indicating that around 70 percent of road accidents
in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos involved motorcycles and three-
wheelers [5]. While the use of motorcycles in South East Asian countries
is high, compared to automobile vehicles, the regulatory framework for
motorcycles remains underdeveloped. In addition, the position of mo-
torcycles in designing traffic facilities and planning urban transportation
is unclear, and they are not considered a major subject in traffic practice.
However, motorcycles are widely used by low-income persons and
others, and are a major factor in accidents and traffic congestion [9].
Note that demographics influence the situation. The population of
South East Asia exceeds 600 million people, and the largest country,
Indonesia, houses around 250 million people. One characteristic of the
population is a large proportion of youth (aged in their late teens to
early 20s), especially in Vietnam and Cambodia. This demographic char-
acteristic makes motorcycles the major means of transport, because
they are relatively inexpensive and affordable for most people.3 As in
the example of Cambodia detailed later, in many countries, the largest
number of traffic accidents is caused by young people, and it is expected
that the number of young road users (in particular, drivers and passen-
gers of motorcycles) will continue to rise in the near future. For exam-
ple, a preceding study on the use of motorcycles in Thailand and
Vietnam [9] noted that especially in regional cities, the use of motorcy-
cles by people younger than the legal age for driving is high and the
number of motorcycle accidents among the youth is increasing.
In addition, although a driving license system has been adopted in
many South East Asian countries, the system is not rigorously imple-
mented and many people drive motorcycles without a license in some
countries.4 Such situation can be coincided with educational levels of
countries. Although this is still our hypothesis which requires further in-
vestigation, we can assume that it may be difficult for the country to
strictly force people to acquire a driver license while a significant num-
ber of people have not been sufficiently educated. Fig. 7 indicates trend
in enrolment of secondary and tertiary education. Over the past 15
years, access to secondary and tertiary education has expanded in all
countries in South East Asia. For instance, in Cambodia, enrolment rate
for tertiary education increased from 2.4 % to 13.1% and enrolment
rate for secondary education increased significantly from 18.9% in
2001 to 53.4% in 2014. Moreover, the literacy rate in the region also im-
proved between 2000 and 2015, and more than three quarters of the
population of each of the ASEAN member countries are literate. Adult
literacy rate for Cambodia increased from 67.3% in 1998 to 79.7% in
3
Generally, when the GDP per capita exceeds US$ 3000, there is a shift from motorcy-
cles to automobile vehicles. For example, in Indonesia where the GDP per capita has
exceeded US$ 3000, people are rapidly switching to automobile vehicles. In 2017, owner-
ship of motorcycles in the Philippines (US$ 3300), Laos (US$ 2760), Vietnam (US$ 2480),
and Myanmar (US$ 1400) was higher than that of automobile vehicles. It is expected that
similar to Indonesia, a shift from motorcycles to automobile vehicles will emerge as the
economies of these countries continue to grow (GDP per capita is derived from IMF
(2016) [11].
4
According to Harada, Nakamura et al. (2014) [9], about 50% of drivers in Thailand and
70% in Vietnam do not have a license.
165
Registered motorized vehicles
Low Income High Income Middle Income Low Income
High Low
10% 1%
High
Middle 46%
53%
74%
2015. However, literacy rate among those aged 15 years and above in
Cambodia is still lowest among ASEAN countries (Table 2).
Next, the article reviews the situation in Cambodia, the topic of the
special issue, based on the status of traffic problems in South East Asia
reviewed in this section.
2. Traffic problems in Cambodia
Like other South East Asian countries, the Cambodian economy has
grown steadily, maintaining a growth rate of 6 percent on average
since 2000 despite being hit by the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers
in 2008. With a steady economic situation, the number of registered ve-
hicles, especially motorcycles, is increasing. Alongside this increase, mo-
torization is rapidly progressing and with it, problems such as traffic
accidents and congestion have worsened. This section outlines these
traffic problems in Cambodia. It should be noted that most of the data
we have referred in this article are obtained from the Cambodia Road
Crash and Victim Information System (RCVIS). This is only the data
source publicly available about traffic accidents in Cambodia and we
have to refer to it, although reliability of the data is not fully guaranteed.
Thus, it is a limitation of this article for not precisely describe current
conditions of the traffic accidents in Cambodia.
In the latter half of the 2000s, traffic accidents were first acknowl-
edged as a major social problem in Cambodia. For example, Table 3
shows that while the number of deaths by road traffic accidents in
2006 was 1,292, the number has increased yearly, peaking in 2015
when 2,231 persons, almost double the number in 2006, were killed
in traffic accidents [7]. Similarly, the mortality rate of traffic accidents
has increased. In 2006, 9.6 persons per 100,000 residents were killed
in traffic accidents, increasing to 14.7 persons in 2014. In 2015, the
30
Mortality caused by road trafic injury
25
(per 100,000 population)
20
15
10
5
0
2000 2010 2015
Fig. 3. Number of deaths due to traffic accidents (per 100,000 population) (2000–2015).
(Source: Compiled based on data from the World Development Indicators[6]). The
income classification is according to the World Bank Indicators 2015 (Low = ≤US$ 1005
per capita; Middle = US$ 1006 to US$ 12,235; High = ≥US$12,236) http://databank.
worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-development-indicators (Accessed on
January 19, 2018)
166 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170

Table 1
Estimated deaths (persons) by selected causes (unintentional injuries) and region, 2015.

Unintentional Global African Region of South-East European Eastern Western

Injuries Region the Asia Region Mediterranean Pacific
Americas Region Region Region

Road injury 1,342,000 269,000 156,000 385,000 80,000 121,000 328,000

Falls 646,000 75,000 68,000 249,000 94,000 21,000 137,000
Fires 180,000 57,000 9000 59,000 26,000 14,000 15,000

Source: WHO [5].

figure decreased slightly to 14.5 persons, and in 2016 to 11.9 persons background information, we realized the importance of focusing on
(Figs. 8 and 9) (Table 4). road safety for motorcycles used by young people in Phnom Penh in
Data for 2009 indicate that among the vehicles involved in traffic ac- the research project conducted by IATSS, which as explained earlier, is
cidents, 71 percent were motorcycles, 10 percent involved pedestrians, the basis of this special issue.
and 8 percent automobile vehicles, suggesting that traffic accidents As mentioned, traffic accidents in Cambodia have increased since
caused by motorcycles are overwhelmingly frequent. Furthermore, re- 2000. (Specifically, since 2006, when records indicate the increasing
garding the cause of traffic accidents, more than 50 percent were caused number of traffic accidents. This decreased in 2013, but then increased
by speeding and 17 percent by drunk driving [17]. In contrast, as delin- again until 2015. In 2016, the number of road deaths was lower than
eated in Table 5, the major causes of road deaths in 2016 were speeding that in 2013.) Therefore, the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC)
(38 percent), drunk driving (13 percent), dangerous over-taking (12 and Handicap International, an international NGO, have been collabo-
percent), and other causes (21 percent) [14]. A comparison between rating to develop the Road Crash and Victim Information System
2010 and 2016 shows that while the total number of deaths by road (RCVIS) to reduce the number of traffic accidents. They first developed
traffic accidents are similar, the proportion of accidents caused by the Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System (RTAVIS) as
speeding has decreased from around 50 percent in 2010, and the causes a pilot version of RCVIS in 2004 to evaluate the status and causes of traf-
of accidents are now more diverse. However, speeding remains the fic accidents in the capital Phnom Penh. Considering the outcomes of
major cause of road deaths over the last five years (2012–2016). As the pilot project, the National Road Safety Action Plan 2006–2010 in-
such, 65 percent of road deaths caused by speeding involve motorcycles, cluded the development and implementation of a nationwide traffic
and 16 percent of these accidents are caused by alcohol intake. This can monitoring system. In addition, it was decided to implement RCVIS in
be explained by the facts that people can now travel at a higher speed all provinces in Cambodia from 2006. In developing RCVIS, Handicap In-
because of the development of roads, underdeveloped traffic legislation, ternational first took the lead; however, from 2008, the Ministry of
and limited public awareness and knowledge of road safety [14]. Health and Ministry of Home Affairs were charged with collecting and
Regarding the age of those involved in traffic accidents, around half analyzing data. In 2010, monitoring using the system was assigned to
are aged from 20 to 29 years. The primary cause of traffic accidents by the NRSC [18]. Following these developments, the Cambodian National
young people is speeding (38 percent). The largest number of traffic ac- Road Safety Action Plan 2010–2020 was drafted in 2010.
cidents caused by speeding occurs in Phnom Penh, the capital. The sec- According to a study on the importance of implementing “the Action
ond most frequent cause of traffic accidents by young people is drunk Plan 2010–2020” [18], the number of deaths in traffic accidents in 2020
driving (13 percent), often in places other than Phnom Penh [14] should halve. However, in reality, the number of road deaths had not
(Fig. 10). decreased by 2015, and since 2016, has decreased to the level antici-
Details on traffic accidents report the seriousness of accidents caused pated in the action plan (Fig. 11) [18].
by motorcycles driven by young people. Data from 2016 show that 70 We now examine traffic accidents in Cambodia. The largest number
percent of motorcycle accidents were caused by drivers aged between of traffic accidents (33 percent) occurs between 18:00 and 22:00. Most
15 and 34 years. The majority of those killed in motorcycle accidents occur on Sundays (17 percent), followed by Saturdays (16 percent) and
are male (85 percent), and the primary cause of death is speeding (34 Mondays (14 percent). Accidents tend to happen over the weekend and
percent), followed by drunk driving (15 percent), dangerous over- on Mondays, and it is necessary to investigate the causal relationship
taking (13 percent), and disrespecting the right of way (12 percent) between holidays and accidents through further research. There are
[14]. Furthermore, 69 percent of deaths in motorcycle accidents occur four festivals or so a year, which are held on holidays, and the number
on national highways and 33 percent in urban areas. Considering this of traffic accidents during these festivals (each festival lasts for seven
days) account for about 11 percent of the total. As such, the causal rela-
tionship between festivals and accidents needs to be investigated
Mortality caused by road trafic injury (per 100,000 population) and
GNI per capita, 2015
35
Thailand
Mortality caused by road trafic injury

30 Vietnam 422
Vietnam
Malaysia 373
(per 100,000 population)

25
Myanmar Malaysia Indonesia 345
20 Thailand 286
Cambodia Lao PDR 166
15
Indonesia Cambodia 137
10 Lao PDR Myanmar 70
Brunei Philippines 43
5 Philippines Singapore 27
Singapore
0 0 100 200 300 400 500
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000

Fig. 4. Economic level and traffic accident fatalities in Southeast Asia (2015). Source: Com- Fig. 5. Number of registered motorcycles an three-wheelers per 1000 population in ASEAN
piled based on data from the World Development Indicators [6]. countries (2013). Source: Compiled based on data in WHO [5].
 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170 167

4 wheelers
Myanmar
2-3 wheelers
23%
Philippines
Malaysia
Lao PDR
Singapore 45.6%
Thailand
Cambodia 70.4%
Indonesia 36%
World 23%
0% 20% 40%
Fig. 6. Breakdown of traffic accident fatalities in ASEAN countries by mode of
transportation (2013). Source: Compiled based on data in WHO [5].
further. Regarding the type of traffic accidents, the largest proportion
are head-on collisions (34 percent), followed by rear-end collisions
(18 percent) and right-angle collisions (15 percent). Finally, 10 percent
of accidents involve pedestrians (Fig. 12) [14].
The RCVIS 2016 report [14] identifies 22 sites along national
highways across Cambodia as black spots. A black spot is a site
where at least three traffic accidents a year happen within 300 me-
ters and with at least 1 death recorded. Most of the 22 sites are lo-
cated in Preah Sihanouk Province, which is designated as an
Economic Special Zone and linked to Phnom Penh by national high-
ways. The black spots here are on national highways as well as on
provisional and local roads. Preah Sihanouk Province includes
Sihanouk Port and an airport. Recently, Sihanoukville has been
attracting much investment, especially from China, and is develop-
ing rapidly as a trading port. Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh are
linked by National Highways 3 and 4, which are used by many
large trucks, trailers, and dump trucks to transport large volumes
of goods. The rapid increase in traffic is one major cause of frequent
traffic accidents on national highways.
Also according to the RCIVS 2016 report [14], 80 percent of traffic ac-
cidents occur on a straight road, 9 percent on the curve, 3 percent at a
four-way cross section, and 3 percent at a three-way cross section. Of
the accidents occurring on straight roads, 31 percent are in the urban
area. As the number of accidents on straight roads is high and more ac-
cidents occur on straight roads in the urban area, the causes of accidents
are not the characteristics of roads, but factors related to the driver, type
of vehicle, and traffic volume.
Cyclists Pedestrians Others In terms of gender, in Cambodia, 80 percent of accidents involve
52.5%
men and 20 percent women, indicating that men are more likely to be
62.1% involved in traffic accidents. Regarding occupation and other attributes,
66.9% agricultural workers (40 percent), workers (20 percent), and students
(20 percent) account for a large proportion of accidents, around 80 per-
72.8% cent of the total. Among students, university students account for 33
percent, primary school pupils 29 percent, high school students 23 per-
cent, and junior high school students 15 percent, showing that primary
school pupils are frequently involved in traffic accidents.
60% 80% 100% The number of traffic accidents peaked in 2014 and 2015, and
started to decline in 2016: a 17 percent decline among agricultural
workers, 26 percent among factory workers, and 30 percent among stu-
dents. However, the number of accidents among children has increased
by 14 percent, suggesting the need for road safety education for young
people (Table 6).
For road deaths in serious traffic accidents, Fig. 13 provides the fatal-
ity rate of drivers and passengers by vehicle type. As Fig. 13 shows, in ac-
cidents involving motorcycles and bicycles, the fatality rate is far higher
for the driver, while in accidents involving other types of vehicles, ex-
cept agricultural vehicles, the passenger's fatality rate exceeds 50 per-
cent [14]. The fact that the passenger's fatality rate is almost 80
percent in the case of vehicles to transport passengers (tuk-tuks and
motorcycle taxis) suggests that road safety measures that target both
the driver and passengers are required. In the case of private automobile
vehicles, the passenger's fatality rate is 56 percent, implying that while
the obligation to wear a seatbelt in front seats has been effective since
2007 [16], non-compliance for back seat passengers has led to this
result.
3. Road safety awareness
Thus far, we have reviewed traffic problems in Cambodia with refer-
ence to traffic accidents. Now, what measures are necessary to tackle
these traffic problems?
We believe that the “three Es,” namely engineering, enforcement,
and education are important. Engineering refers to the necessary
engineering-based approaches to draft appropriate plans for road de-
velopment and develop road facilities to enable a safer and smoother
traffic environment. Enforcement refers to the institutionalization of ap-
propriate traffic legislation to enforce compliance with rules for the road
network and to police compliance more vigorously. Education refers to
the implementation of road safety education to increase road safety
awareness and improve driving skills to ensure that people behave in
a safer and more appropriate way on the road.

87.3 88.3 120.6

85.0
90
80 85.1
70 63.6
Gross enrolment rate (%)

74.7
60 53.4 *2014) 65 52.5(*2014)
62.8
45.9
50 55.6 42.4
35.6
40
30.8 28.8
30 23.3 38.4 39.0
35.9
18.1 16.0 30.3
20 13.1 26

10 18.9
14.2 14.2
11.0 9.5
0

Fig. 7. Trend in secondary and tertiary gross enrolment rate, 2001–2015. Source: Compiled based on data from the UNESCO Institute of Education [10]. http;//data.uis.unesco.org/
(Accessed on August 27, 2018)
168 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170

Table 2
Adult literacy rate (15+) in South East Asia, 2014.

Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao-PDR Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam

97.6 78.1 95.9 79.0 95.1 90.2 96.7 96.1 94.7

Source: ASEAN Stats [12].

https://data.aseanstats.org/ (Accessed on August 27, 2018).

The aforementioned “three Es” are important in considering traffic
problems in developing countries such as Cambodia. However, educa-
tion to increase people's road safety awareness is still neglected com-
pared to the other two Es. Following this, this section explains the
importance of increasing people's road safety awareness by examining
the situation in Cambodia.
While about 10 percent of the Cambodian population owns a mo-
torcycle, it is estimated that most do not have a driving license [19].
The survey we conducted as part of the IATSS research project with
approximately 1,000 young people (high school and university stu-
dents) living in Phnom Penh in 2015 revealed that more than 80 per-
cent of respondents were driving motorcycles without a driving
license. In addition, since Prime Minister Hun Sen decided not to
make driving licenses for motorcycles below 125 cc mandatory in
2016, we cannot expect an increase in the number of driving license
holders in the near future.
On the other hand, around 70 percent of drivers have a driving li-
cense for automobile vehicles. The proportion of driving license holders
has improved from 51 percent in 2014 to 53 percent in 2015 and 69 per-
cent in 2016. However, the proportion of driving license holders in
group of those aged 15–19 years is significantly low at 27 percent, em-
phasizing that measures to promote their understanding of the driving
license system and to encourage them to obtain a license are necessary.
Among automobile vehicle users, young people tend not to wear a
seatbelt. Data indicate that 88 percent of those aged between 15 and
19 years and 52 percent of those between 20 and 24 years do not
wear a seatbelt [14]. Furthermore, motorcycle users do not wear hel-
mets, especially young people. For example, more than 80 percent of
teenagers and 92 percent of children aged 0 to 4 years do not wear hel-
mets, indicating that most child motorcycle passengers do not wear a
helmet. This highlights the low road safety awareness of parents [14].
Moreover, according to the OECD report (2017) [16], 77% of motorcy-
clists killed in road accidents and 99% of child passengers killed were
not wearing helmets.
A report of WHO [20] notes that as the fatality rate of head injuries
sustained in motorcycle accidents is 75 percent in European countries
and 88 percent in low and middle-income countries shows, driving
and being transported on a motorcycle without a helmet is highly dan-
gerous. Consequently, in Cambodia, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle
was enforced by law and made compulsory since 2007 for all two-
wheelers over 49cc, for motorcycles with trailers and for motorized tri-
cycles [16] However, a preceding study on wearing a helmet [19] re-
ported that the law is not fully complied with. The survey conducted
for this study found that people mostly do not wear a helmet at night.
A survey conducted in 5 provinces including Phnom Penh from 2010
Table 3
Number of casualties by severity of injury, 2012–2016.
2012 2013 2014 2015
Fatalities 1966 1950 2226 2231
Serious injuries 5349 5671 6005 5450
Slight injuries 7248 8109 6425 5746
No injuries 0 166 105 71
Unknown injuries 1052 331 554 151
Total 15,615 16,227 15,315 13,649
Source: RCVIS [14].
to 2013 also indicated that 48 percent of motorcyclists wore a helmet
during the day and 33 percent at night. The highest rate of compliance
was found in Phnom Penh (79.0 percent), followed by Siem Reap
(73.8 percent) and Kandal (64.5 percent). On the other hand, the rate
was just 34.3 percent in Kampong Speu and 33.5 percent in Kampong
Cham. (Data from the preceding study quoted here is slightly old.
While there is a slight improvement in urban areas, the rate of wearing
a helmet in rural areas remains low.)
However, these figures apply to motorcyclists. When the motorcycle
carried two or three passengers, the rate of passengers wearing a helmet
was about one-tenth of that of drivers in all provinces. One reason mo-
torcycle passengers do not wear a helmet is that the law making this
mandatory by law in Cambodia was not enacted until the revision was
made to the traffic laws in 2015 [16] and it must be vigorously and
fully practiced by all. Road safety education must be more aggressively
implemented to ensure compliance with the regulation and in order
to make advancements, school education plays a critical role in
Cambodia.
According to the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) of
Cambodia, road safety curriculum has been implemented in primary
schools from grade 1 to grade 6 (pupils aged 6 to 12) since 2004 through
the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) in collaboration
with Handicap International (an international NGO), and this curricu-
lum has been expanded to include lower secondary schools thus far.
Specifically, the curriculum is provided either through a selected subject
on local life skills program or social studies in the main curriculum. De-
velopment of teaching and learning materials for teachers and students
have been developed as well as practical activities conducted on road
safety on school playgrounds including traffic police officers delivering
part of the lessons. Implementation of this curriculum and its prelimi-
nary assessment has shown many dimensions for improvement and dif-
ficult challenges.
For example, the NRSC has pointed out the weak commitment from
schools making the implementation of the curriculum less sustainable
in both social studies and the local life skills program. At the same
time, on the part of the schools, the NRSC also points out the need to al-
locate more time in the school schedule, provide opportunities for ca-
pacity building among school teachers (improve literacy and
acquisition of knowledge on traffic laws, traffic signs, safe behavior
and active teaching techniques) with incentives. One suggestion made
by the NRSC to motivate schools is to connect driving license tests to
the school curriculum, for instance allowing 16 year old students to
apply for driving license tests only if they have completed the school
curriculum. Nevertheless, development of the road safety curriculum
in high schools needs to be considered at the earliest.
When considering people's road safety awareness, we emphasize
that many people are not aware that traffic accidents cause economic
loss for society. While slightly outdated, Ear [17] estimated that the
total economic loss caused by traffic accidents in 2011 was 279 million
US dollars. Regardless, the government's investment in traffic problems
2016
remains limited compared to that for illness (HIV/AIDS) and landmines/
1852 UXO (see Table 7).
4967
As mentioned, while the Cambodian economy is steadily growing, if
5009
0 traffic accidents and traffic congestion worsen, huge economic loss will
341 be incurred. Thus, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of in-
11,899 creasing people's road safety awareness through education in combina-
tion with engineering and enforcement, in this order.
 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170 169

Total motor vehicles

400000
350000

Number of vehicles
300000
Motorcycles
250000
200000
150000
100000
Passenger cars
50000
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fig. 8. Number of registered vehicles in Cambodia (motorcycles and automobiles). Source: ASEAN-Japan Transport Partnership Statistics Book 2013 [13], ASEAN-Stats [12].

% (base 100=2010) Table 5

240 Casualties by cause of traffic accident (2010–2016).

220 Registered 2010 2012 2014 2016 2016 change

Vehicles
over 2010
200
180 Human error N N N N % change %

160 Speed-related 909 1032 951 702 38% −207 −29%

Drunk driving 279 254 381 250 13% −29 −12%
140 Road Fatalities Did not respect right of way 146 175 184 110 6% −36 −33%
120 Population Dangerous overtaking 150 182 246 220 12% 70 32%
Changed lane without due 34 26 77 43 2% 9 21%
100
care
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Changed direction without 38 28 96 82 4% 44 54%
Road Fatalities Population Registered Vehicles due care
Other 157 167 196 398 21% 241 61%
N/A (vehicle defect, road 103 102 95 47 3% −56 -
Fig. 9. Changes in the population, number of registered vehicles, and traffic accident condition, and weather) 119%
fatalities (rate of change based on data from 2010). Source: Compiled based on data Total 1816 1966 2226 1852 36 2%
from OECD/ITF [16].
Source: Compiled based on data from RCVIS [14].

Table 4
% 30
Traffic conditions in Cambodia, 2006–2016.
24%
2006 2010 2013 2014 2015 2016 25

Reported safety data 20 19%

Fatalities 1292 1816 1950 2226 2202 1852
14%
Injury crashes – 18,287 14,277 15,315 11,149 11,889 15 13%
Death per 100,000 inhabitants 9.6 12.7 13 14.7 14.3 11.9
9%
Death per 100,000 registered 18.1 11 7.9 8 6.9 4.9 10
6%
vehicles 5% 5%
4%
5
Traffic data 1%
Registered vehicles 715 1650 2457 2801 3200 3752 0
(thousands) 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 >=55
Registered vehicles per 1000 – 115 164 183 205 240 age
inhabitants

Source: OECD [15]. Fig. 10. Age of motorcycle drivers responsible for accidents (2016). Source: RCVIS [14].

4. Conclusion
The article reviewed the status of traffic problems in South East Asia
and focused on traffic problems in Cambodia based on data related to
various aspects of traffic accidents. It was noted that the level of road
safety awareness is low and that further measures are needed in rela-
tion to the “three Es.” However, since this is a review article and not a
study based on original research, the challenges discussed here are lim-
ited. In particular, because the article focuses on traffic accidents, it does
not address traffic congestion, another major problem. We believe that
further research is necessary in this regard.
We think the following examination is necessary to improve the
traffic situation in Cambodia and to realize healthier development
based on the review in this article. The challenge is how to increase
people's road safety awareness. To prevent traffic accidents (espe-
cially serious ones), it is important to reduce speeding and drunk
driving as well as to enforce that people wear a helmet and
seatbelt. This can be easily realized if the importance thereof is
highlighted. This is a challenge related to education as part of the
“three Es,” which requires less funding than the other two Es (en-
gineering and enforcement).
This does not imply that the other two Es are unimportant. Rather, it
means the most important action is to improve all “three Es” in a bal-
anced manner. To enhance engineering, JICA has supported initiatives
to improve traffic in Phnom Penh since the 2000s, and other donors in-
cluding the Asian Development Bank have been involved in developing
170 Y. Kitamura et al. / IATSS Research 42 (2018) 163–170

3194 Driver Passenger

without action Motorbike 76% 24%
3500
plan
Bicycle 93% 7%
Number of fatalities (persons)

3000 2231
2226 Family car 44% 56%
2500
1950
1905
2000 1717 1852 actual Passenger vehicle 22% 78%
1545
1500 1966 Goods vehicle 46% 54%
1816 1597
1638
1000 1292 with action plan
Agriculture vehicle 65% 35%
500

0
06' 07' 08' 09' 10' 11' 12' 13' 14' 15' 16' 17' 18' 19' 20'
Year
Actual Without action plan With action plan Fig. 13. Percentage of fatalities among drivers and passengers by vehicle type. Source:
RCVIS [14], p. 11.
Fig. 11. Predictions for the number of traffic accidents with and without the Cambodian
National Road Safety Action Plan 2010ｰ2020. Source: Commandeur et al. [18], p. 6.
Table 7
Comparison of the number of persons injured and investments by road accidents, diseases,
Hit object on/ off road etc.
3% Other Diseases/Injuries Casualties/Victims Investment
Slide swipe 6%
5% 1. Road Crashes 18,500 (1816 died) 2010 $3 million 2010
Head on 2. Mine/UXO 286 (71 died) 2010 $23 million 2011
Overturned/ Fell alone 3. HIV 58,000 2009 $52 million 2008
34%
9% Source: Compiled based on data from Ear [17].

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