Cambodia traffic accidents claim over 1,300 lives in first 10 months of 2026-Xinhua

Cambodia traffic accidents claim over 1,300 lives in first 10 months of 2026

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2026-11-03 17:46:15

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Road traffic accidents killed at least 1,307 people in Cambodia during the January-October period of 2026, according to a National Police report released on Tuesday.

In October alone, traffic fatalities claimed 147 lives, averaging nearly five deaths per day.

"Most of the crashes resulted from speeding and failing to yield the right-of-way," Interior Minister Sar Sokha said in a social media post, noting that nighttime driving accounted for the majority of the incidents.

Deputy National Police Chief Lieutenant General Chev Hak recently highlighted that motorcyclists comprised the vast majority of casualties, with roughly 70 percent of those victims failing to wear safety helmets.

Road traffic accidents remain the leading cause of death and injury in Cambodia. Beyond the human toll, they cost the Southeast Asian nation an estimated 466 million U.S. dollars annually, according to a joint report by the United Nations Development Programme and the National Road Safety Committee. ■