• Society

Drunk Drivers Face Public Backlist Shame

• By Lay Sopheavotey
• January 25, 2024 3:10 PM

PHNOM PENH – Drivers with a history of driving while drunk and causing accidents will have their names posted publicly on an online blacklist.

Sar Sokha, whose Interior Ministry is setting up the database, said alcohol-related accidents have increasingly become an issue of concern.

The blacklist was set up to encourage citizens to focus on their driving, especially obeying the traffic laws.

“Some people still do not obey the road traffic laws, which causes traffic accidents every day,” he said.

“Recently, a man who was drunk and was driving caused four people to die and three to be injured. The public hotly debated the recurrence of accidents caused by drunk drivers.”

Touch Sokhak, deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, said the blacklist is like a website that will make it easy for people to find details about traffic accident cases, causes of accidents, property damage, perpetrators and the number of victims.

Sokhak said that the convenience of its system will help the ministry launch policies to prevent road accidents and drivers be more careful because they do not want to be blacklisted.

In cases where he or she caused a second traffic accident, the authorities as well as law enforcement will have specific evidence to press charges through this system.

Yong Kim Eng, director of the People's Center for Development and Peace, agrees that it is a good thing to have such a list because it helps to monitor the traffic on the road, and the history of the offender. 

He said that the system is also good for researchers, and the public can monitor and collect information on traffic accidents. 

However, he said that the database cannot effectively reduce traffic accidents or scare alcohol drinkers because some drunk drivers do not care about their image. 

Kim Eng suggested that the government and law enforcement should further strengthen legal measures to better prevent traffic accidents.

Prime Minister Hun Manet has previously ordered national police to detain on the spot anyone suspected of causing a traffic accident. He also instructed National Police Chief Sar Thet to tighten alcohol control to prevent more accidents.

According to the National Police, 3,317 traffic accidents occurred in 2023, killing 1,590 people and injuring 4,515.

Accidents increased by 341 cases, or 11 percent, from the 2,976 recorded in 2022. The fatality rate declined by 7 percent, from 1,709 deaths in 2022.

 

Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this article was translated by Nhor Sokhoeurn for Cambodianess.