This morning I woke up in the province, the sound of birds, the sound of a few roosters, and the sound of a crying young girl. The daughter of my neighbor.
A bit of research showed the girl's boyfriend died in a traffic accident last night. The boyfriend and his friend transported some goods on the Ban Lung-Vietnam 'highway' during the early morning / late night. The boyfriend was asleep at the back seats while his friend sped away with the car until shit hit the fan, the car overturned and ended upside down in a creek next to the road. The driver survived, the boyfriend did not. This morning boyfriend's sister came to tell the girl living next my house her boyfriend died last night, leaving her desperate and into tears. The deseased was just 20 years old. They planned to get engaged next month.

I guess we all know the dangers of Cambodian traffic, but sometimes it shows its' ugliest face in front of us leaving us thinking... WTF?

The driver's up in Ratanakiri are so bad, even for Cambodia. It's the only place I've been in a serious crash (rear ended and totaled my vehicle by a guy flying on the wrong side of the road at high speed). Also 3 of my workers died in a 5 year period, and it was always the same story, drove or rode too fast and flew off the road, gone.

I also remember7-8 years ago another young guy up there was shuttling some of my family from Banlung to Ou Pong Mon and he decided to "make good time", hit over 140 kph when he lost control and the car flipped multiple times. He then jumped out of the upside down car and ran away, never saw him after that.

I don't think I'll ever go back up that way again.

Now there's my rant about driver's up there...

Main roads have improved significantly over the last ten years, but driving skills have not, unfortunately. Accidents, also fatal ones, are way too common here, especially out of town.

How many of us old farts have got away with our lives though sheer luck over the years and we all have friends who didn't.
But they keep making cars to go faster and faster. How many accidents would be avoided if cars couldn't go fast, oh and how many klm to the gallon would we get. Even the electric cars are capable of great speeds, ridiculous

atst wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:50 am there's no money in slow cars doing lots of klm to the gallon

Unless you're in the U.S. Freaking small engine Toyotas and Hondas are selling double what they used to last year.

Prices in California nearly $8 a gallon in some places finally woke them up I guess.

Braindead locals = Traffic accidents. No other way of dressing it up. I see families on motorbikes tempting death on a daily basis. They just don't have the capacity to care.

Freightdog wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 10:29 am If you drive at 180kmh on a straight road with no obstacles, speed will not kill you.
Driving at 20kmh on a bike, crossing in front of a truck will very much increase your chances of an early death.

Few people here have the same risk assessment that many foreigners have. But thinking about the developed world, I’m not inclined to believe that ‘we’ are maintaining those skills, either.

Car seatbelts have been around as an idea for a long time, yet they weren’t mandated until very late in the evolution of mass personal transport.
Many locals don’t wear helmets on bikes. Has anyone noticed how many expats don’t?

I’d hazard a guess that more expats are wearing helmets when riding these days, not because they’re more concerned with safety, but because the fine for not doing so is now $15.
When it was $3, plenty were happy to risk life and limb for such a pittance.

they dont enforce wearing helmets law in siem reap anymore , they used to . i paid $15 one time , that was it .
i used to pay $1 or $2 in sihanoukville
i dont mind paying , its too hot here for a helmet and it feels good without it ..