Crackdown on drunk driving sees results: cops

Crackdown on drunk driving sees results: cops

Tue, 26 January 2016 ppp

Lay Samean

Police process people at a checkpoint in Phnom Penh earlier this week. National Police

Police touted their implementation of the new Traffic Law yesterday, announcing that authorities equipped with breathalysers at roadblocks set up across the capital had sent the cases of 19 alleged drunk drivers to the municipal court on Saturday and Sunday.

Run Rathveasna, director of the public order department at the Ministry of Interior, said that the suspects – 10 of whom were driving cars, with the rest on motorbikes – had readings of 0.5 to 0.6 milligrams of alcohol per litre of air, roughly equivalent to a BAC of 0.10 to 0.12.

Under the new Traffic Law’s harsher guidelines, Rathveasna said, drunk drivers can face from one to six months in jail and fines ranging from about $200 to $1,000, but sentencing is a matter for the court.

“It has two options: first, only a fine, with no [jail time]; and the second, the court can fine and [imprison],” he said.

Ear Chariya, of the Road Safety Institute, hailed the measures, noting that drunk driving was one of main causes of road accidents in Cambodia, though past efforts at enforcement had not been as strict.