Loss of Life as Traffic Deaths Mount Prompts Renewed Debate Over Safety, Access to Justice
Traffic accidents cost Cambodia $350 million a year, according to officials.
20 April 2019
Phat Pov had a dream.

Growing up in an impoverished village northeast of Phnom Penh in the 1980s, her education did not last long. When making a family with her husband Dum Vuth, Pov was committed to making sure all her four children could be successful.

“I really, really wanted to [study],” Pov, 50, told VOA Khmer at her home in Kandal province. “I told my children to study hard because I do not have anything to inherit to them, but [access to] education.”

They all listened and followed with her dream, including the third child, Rida.

Born in 1996, Rida was an obedient daughter and hard-working student, who worked tirelessly despite her modest background to be an academic success, according to Pov.

Rida won an award for her Khmer language work in high school and won a scholarship at one of the priciest private universities in Phnom Penh.

She was due to graduate with a bachelor degree in political sciences in July. But a tragic event in the early afternoon of March 26 changed everything.

Pov was busy – as usual – preparing pumpkins for sale at her home in Prek Tamak when she received a call from Rida’s landlord in Phnom Penh: Rida was involved in a serious traffic accident.

Rida was driving slowly on her Honda Cub motorbike when she reached a crossroads in the busy Tuol Kork district of Phnom Penh – not far from her university – and was hit by a speeding SUV.

Rida died at the scene.

Rida was among 513 people killed in traffic accidents in the first quarter of this year, according to Interior Ministry figures, which recorded 1,761 casualties in the traffic accidents across the country last year. Accidents cost Cambodia $350 million a year, officials say.

Kong Ratanak, acting director of Cambodia’s Institute for Road Safety, said Cambodia may not be able to meet the United Nations’ goal – set in 2011 -- to halve traffic casualties by 2020.

“We always urge to the public for more attention, spotlighting the problem and more discussions of the issues ... as it seems likely that the public and the media appear to take it [road safety] for granted,” he said.

But, he adds, it is an uphill battle.

For families losing members in traffic accidents, the losses cost them more than the figures tell, Ratanak said.

At school, a teacher who saw Rida’s academic promise during her secondary school years said she remembered her former student as curious, savvy and a near-perfect student.

“She had a very good personality,” said Lay Sovanny, Rida’s former Khmer language teacher.

“That is what I can remember about her; a girl from a poor family, but very diligent, perseverant, and humble. She asked lots of questions that made me very happy to answer,” Sovanny told VOA Khmer by phone.

“I was so shocked and feel very sympathetic to her and the family. We lost a great human resource for the future. I feel such sorrow.”

https://www.voacambodia.com/a/loss-of-l ... 83315.html

/sigh

libgen wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2019 6:55 pm Hit and run driver who killed University student gets 2 month sentence

Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced a hit and run motorist, Yin Mana, to two months in prison, three years of probation, and a 10-month licence suspension for reckless driving with lethal consequence.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50605433/h ... entenced/

OK if we move that to the original thread here ?
newsworthy/girl-student-killed-hit-and- ... 27736.html