To assess the baseline status of road safety information in early 2010 and to evaluate the intervention implemented as part of the RS 10 initiative,  observations and studies have been implemented since July 2010, including

• Helmet observation

• Drink Driving observation

• Road site survey

The studies have been fully supported by the John Hopkins University, and conducted by Handicap International Belgium, in close collaboration with the Coalition for Road Safety and the Ministry of Interior

Helmet Observation

The night-time observations on helmet wearing have been conducted for every two months, started in July 2010.

It has covered 3 cities/provinces (Phnom Penh, Kandal, and Kampong Speu) with a total of 19 sites. 10 of them are in Phnom Penh, 5 in Kandal, and the other 4 are in Kampong Speu.

The locations in Phnom Penh have been selected randomly among all intersections in 8 districts, using a selection method taken from the website www.statistic.com. This was selected based on the discussions with Ms Mieko Kikuchi during her visit in early July.

In Kandal, 5 sites have been identified along the national roads around Phnom Penh. They have been randomly selected among all intersections on the national roads.

Due to the limited number of intersections in Kampong Speu, the study can have only 4 intersections in this province.

To conduct the observation, 10 volunteers have been trained with a pilot test in early July and a team leader has been appointed. They, then, have been sent out to do the observation every two months in all 3 provinces in the 3^rd week of the selected months.

Drink Driving observation

In October 2010, the first drink driving observation has started simultaneously with the strict drink driving enforcement. Different from the helmet observation, the data on drink driving observation has been collected in Phnom Penh, Kandal and Kampong Speu, by 8 trained traffic police from the Ministry of Interior. After the approval from the Ministry, those 8 traffic police have been appointed and trained in early October. They then have been attached to groups of drink driving enforcement traffic police. Based on data collection forms, they have recorded those vehicles that were stopped in a check point and noted down the result of an alcohol test of each driver. As it was the first week of the actual enforcement, only some districts were selected for the drink driving check points. Therefore, the observation can only cover 4 districts in Phnom Penh (out of 8), 3 districts in Kandal (out of 6) and 2 districts in Kampong Speu (out of 4).

Road Site survey

The survey was conducted to assess the perceptions and knowledge of road users towards helmet wearing and drink driving. Face to face interviews were conducted around petrol stations where road users just stopped for the gasoline and they were asked if they would like to participate into the interviews. The study was conducted in November 2010 in Phnom Penh, Kandal, and Kampong Speu. The same group of volunteers for the helmet observation has been trained with a pre test at the beginning of the month. A total of 300 respondents (150 in Phnom Penh, 75 in Kandal, 75 in Kampong Speu) were interviewed for the helmet questionnaires and other 300 (same distribution by provinces as helmet) for drink driving questionnaires.

The preliminary results on the helmet and drink driving observation and the road site survey can be download here

Contact:

Chandara Gnim
Road Safety Research Project Manager
HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL BELGIUM
PO Box
838#18, Street 400Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Mobile:  855- 16 555 681
Tel: 855-23 217 298/300
Fax:   855-23 216 270
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