National-Level Risk Factor Workshop On Helmet Wearing and Drink Driving

Overview

The “RS10 National Risk Factor workshop on Helmet Wearing and Drinking-Driving” was organized on the 20^th – 21^st July at the Imperial Garden and Villa Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is the first workshop of the RS10 project in Cambodia. It covered 2 main risk factors: drink driving and helmet wearing, which have been identified by the working group of the RS10 project.

It was organized by the National Road Safety Committee and Handicap International Belgium, with the support from the Global Road Safety Partnership

The workshop was presided over by H.E. Touch Chan Kosal, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Public Work and Transports, and Deputy Chief of the National Road Safety Committee. It was attended by around 90 senior decision-makers from the government, development sectors, private companies, and reporters. The presence of these high level representatives underlines the strong commitment from the government towards the drink driving intervention.

During the workshop, latest researches on the drink driving and helmet wearing were presented, in combination with updated projects conducted by various stakeholders in Cambodia. The last session of the workshop was focused on the drafted national action plan for the 2011-2015 Drink Driving prevention.

Objectives of the workshops

To Review helmet safety issues including latest research and new Cambodia helmet standards and risk of not wearing helmet (based on GPM manual and RCVIS data and research).
To introduce the risks and consequences of drink-driving (based on GPM and on data and research) and present solutions including public education and enforcement strategies.
To develop the national drink-driving action plan
To create opportunities for networking and partnership/collaboration for future road safety work.

Quote

Mr. Kan Chhayhong, representative from the Kandal Provincial Road Safety Committee: “I participated in the workshop to learn some strategies to reduce road crashes. Now, I will use it for the implementation of the provincial road safety activities. The Contents of the workshop are very good. The workshop provided a good opportunity to participants to exchange ideas, experiences and contribute to the development of the drink driving action plan”