Cambodia Traffic Safety Issues




Unqualified Drivers


Cambodian Traffic Laws



What Side Do Cambodians Drive On?


Traffic Anarchy







Photo: Cars Blocking the Sidewalk in Siem Reap
Photo: Cars Blocking the Sidewalk in Siem Reap




Riding a Bicycle in Cambodia


Wearing Helmets



Honking Horns



8 thoughts on “Cambodia Traffic Safety Issues”

  1. Hello Mark,

    I’ve made a mistake of coming to Cambodia and paid for it the second day of my stay. The seven day trip started at the beginning of June, 2010 and both me and my wife were excited. It was late morning when we found ourselves standing on the side of the road just across the street from La Noria waiting for the traffic to calm so we can safely get across. There was a van slowly passing down the street when out of nowhere a tuk tuk showed up and forced its way through a narrow gap between the van and the side of the road. Flying down the road at a high speed, tuk tuk swirled around the van, hitting me in the head with the cage that’s attached to the bike (the part where people sit). Being punched right in the face with metal rods sent me down to the ground. My glasses were shuttered about 15 meters away. The tuk tuk never bothered to stop, only looked over his shoulder, shrugged it off and continued as if hitting pedestrians was a daily thing for him. My wife told me that there were two Caucasian girls sitting in a tuk tuk when I was hit. I could not see, but my wife says they were shocked by sheer ignorance of their driver but were too speechless to react. Meantimely, the driver sped off so they were left with their hands on their open mouths, staring at us with horror.

    I ended up with half of my face bruised, swollen and bleeding. Only now, three weeks later am I able to see with my left eye again. I had to get a new pair of glasses cut as my old one was destroyed in the impact. We went to report the accident to the tourist police in Siem Reap but it was the most humiliating experience ever when we were laughed at with nobody taking us seriously. The most horrifying thing was that I had to spend additional 6 days in Cambodia because we had return tickets all paid for.

    From what my wife is telling me, the girls who were in the tuk tuk that hit me were in their mid twenties, Caucasian and had their backpacks with them which could mean that they had just arrived in Cambodia and were picked up at the airport (most likely as bus station is not that way). If either of you gets to read this, know that I am the guy your tuk tuk driver hit. I’ve been out of work for two weeks as a result and still look like a Frankenstein. I know this was not your fault, but the fault of the disrespectful driver who forced his way through a narrow passage disregarding the persons who were standing on the side of the road there. He bulldozered his way through me and my wife even though my wife got a chance to jump off. I didn’t. Needless to say, I will never ever go to Cambodia again and will strongly advice all the people I care about against making the same mistake.


  2. I’ve been around the world on a bicycle and can confirm that Cambodia is one of the most dangerous, if not THE most dangerous country for a bicyclist. I’ve ridden through large cities (Toronto, New York, Tokyo), through Latin America which is not particularly known for obeying any traffic laws and even through Ho Chi Minh City which has streets packed with millions of motorcycle but wherever you go, there always is some form of common respect for one another and understanding of implications to the rest of the traffic when one part of it is knocked down but this doesn’t seem to exist in Cambodia. Surviving Cambodian traffic definitely counts as one of my bravest achievements and I would recommend all bicyclists to exercise extreme caution and don’t count on any common sense from other traffic participants when riding in Cambodia.

  3. Mark, sorry you over exaggerate the transport problem in Cambodia. Unfortunately you compare it to what you are accustomed to in Canada. I have travelled extensively in Cambodia and Vietnam which is similar. These countries have high population densities which in turn produce high traffic densities. When you first encounter the chaos of their roads it appears that everyone is suicidal. In fact the opposite is true, the rule is simple, you are responsible for those immediately in front of you, you must avoid them. Likewise those behind you and to your sides will look after you. When negotiating traffic keep the forward momentum, do not stop and definitely don’t go backward. I had not seen any accidents in my stays in these countries and had only heard about one death. When you look at the cars they are not battle scarred as you imply. I took a video of a particularly busy intersection in Hanoi, Vietnam and it looked pure chaos but on careful observation when fixed just on one pedestrian or motorcycle you can see how well the system works. Now I have also travelled in equally dense parts of London and Paris and crossing a street there was certainly a lot more traumatic. Unfortunately I do agree with your observation that the police are corrupt and target the tourists for ‘special’ attention and fines.

  4. Hi Eugene,

    thank you for your input. I was in Vietnam and while it is far more densely populated than Cambodia, the rules of the road as you mention do exist. In Cambodia they don’t. The only rule is the rule of a larger vehicle (aka manhood compensation rule) and everything else is secondary. Cambodia has nowhere near the population density of Vietnam but it’s easier to participate in traffic in Vietnam than it is in Cambodia, but then again, the Vietnamese are to a point, respectful people, whereas Cambodians aren’t.

    I cannot comment on Paris as I only spent one day in the city, but after more than a year in London, UK (unless you’re talking about different London), I have to strongly disagree with your comment. London is quite easily the safest city for a pedestrian to participate in traffic in. You could cross any zebra blind-folded and would not get hurt. Not only does all traffic stop immediately when a pedestrian is crossing the road, the drivers go after the brake pedal as soon as the pedestrian shows intention to approach the crosswalk (long before they enter the road).

    I’ve never been to a city that would have such respectful drivers. Compared to Cambodia where no driver ever ever and ever stops for (or swerves away from) a pedestrian, London is literally a no danger zone. And that’s if we disregard the fact that you don’t have motorcyclists readily riding in the opposite lane and that green light for pedestrians usually means that no cars will be trying to run you over as you’re crossing.


  5. Dear Mark,

    I have been living in Cambodia for over 3 years and have spent almost 15 years living in London and having ridden a bicycle and driven motor vehicles in both (moto in Cambodia/car in London) I feel qualified to comment! London is a safe place to use zebra crossings, no doubt, but it is not such a safe place to ride a bicycle both due to pedestrians stepping out into the road without out bothering to check that just because they can’t hear a car that doesn’t mean there is no traffic, and because most car drivers seem unable to spot anything that is on 2 wheels, powered or otherwise. Also, London drivers, like most UK drivers are generally law abiding, but that doesn’t mean they are respectful and you only have to spend 2 minutes standing by a bus lane before you find half a dozen cars trying to use it to circumvent their way through the traffic.

    Cambodian driving on the other hand is something else entirely. I never fail to be both amazed and horrified whenever I ride my moto (at least an hour every day, if not more) by the sheer insanity. There are very extensive traffic laws in Cambodia, (though not as extensive as the UK), covering areas such as not using mobile phones whilst driving, not parking on corners or junctions, having regular vehicle inspections, wearing helmets and seatbelts, obeying traffic signals, not overloading your vehicle, not driving in a manner that will cause a hazard to your fellow drivers, not having passengers on the roof of your vehicle etc all of which I am guaranteed to see flouted within 10 metres of leaving my front door. There are two issues. The first concerns a general ignorance of the traffic laws, i.e.most people don’t know there is a law against driving whilst using a mobile phone; and a general disregard for the laws that they do know about. For most people, the traffic laws are seen as a means for the corrupt traffic police to extort money from the poor. I have seen many occasions when the police have just ignored people driving without helmets or going through red lights and then stop some one with a helmet and mirrors simply because he looked poor. If the police do not enforce the law, or even follow it themselves, or if the government do not follow it, then the general population will not respect it or see the benefit of following it. The second issue is that Cambodian society is all about the acquisition and use of power and status. In the UK, we generally abide by the rule, do unto others as we would have them do unto you. In Cambodia it is do unto others because you can or do unto others before they do it to you. Also Cambodian culture and society was shattered by the Pol Pot era and the fighting that ensued. The extended time of conflict left most Cambodians with a concern simply for their own and their families survival and a disregard for anyone else. This has been passed on to their children and so Cambodians live their life, and drive, with an almost complete disregard for how their actions will affect anyone else. It will take a very long time for things to change here. A lot of the underlying issues in Cambodian society will need to change before the traffic gets any better!


  6. Hello Alex,

    Thanks for your input. You present very good points and obviously know what you are talking about. I appreciate people like you because there are not many out there who possess this ability. The only objection I would raise is in regards to the Pol Pot rule and the effects of it which can still be felt.

    This is one of the weakest excuses imaginable yet Cambodians (and supporters of their culture of handouts) use it to justify just about everything in their lives. Pol Pot’s regime ended more than 30 years ago for crying out loud. Look at Japan – the country was literally obliterated during the WWII. Cambodia has never been beaten as much as Japan was after the WWII, yet it gave the Japanese no excuse to whine. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves and 30 years later, they were a superpower and one of the most advanced countries in the world. Japan is the proof that it is possible to go from complete obliteration to economic prosperity in less than 30 years.

    Japan is not the only one in this. Many European countries were demolished even more yet if you look at where they got by 1975 (30 year after the WWII), you will see well performing, economically solid countries with great social services. And they made it will less monetary support from the USA than Cambodia gets year after year.

    So what sets Cambodia apart from Japan or much of Europe? The answer is – people. Japan is the proof that dedication and hard work can move a country from complete annihilation to economic prosperity in 30 years. Cambodia on the other hand is the proof that 30 years of being lazy and just whining will not solve any problems. No matter how much money you give them, nothing will change because they don’t want to make change happen.

    I spent considerable amount of time in Cambodia and was shown over and over than they don’t want to be taught how to fish, they want people to give them the fish. You show them how to make money and they will shove it in your face. The idea of committing their lives to work to earn a living is not an idea of a fulfilling life for them. They want to get stuff without work. That’s what they perceive as fulfilling life.

    I was the only one who wanted to achieve real change in their lives. I lined up computers, went through the hoops to have them come so I can teach them computer graphics or other skills they can use to make money, yet each lesson ended up turning into them chatting with friends using various online messengers. Nobody could be bothered to learn anything that could improve their lives. Nobody showed slight interest to want to make the change. They want everyone else to change it for them but leaving them out from having to strive for it.

    It took another person to give me a slap across the face so after 5 months of desperate trying I could admit to myself that you cannot help someone who cannot help themselves. With that in mind, I’ve realized that what I was doing was wrong because by bringing donations to Cambodia and supporting people financially I simply ended up supporting their culture of handouts. This put the real chance of change even further away. What Cambodians really need, is what I got – a slap across their face to sober up and take responsibility for their lives into their own hands. Decades of supporting them financially and through handouts delivered no change. Anyone willing to truly help Cambodia needs to stop supporting them and stop spreading misinformation about them to trick any more people into trying to help them the way I did.


  7. Perhaps their overdependence on tourism money and tips is also one of their problem. Their overdependence on western foreigners who pity on them or like them for whatever weird reason is also another problem. I think cambodian like many asian countries is more interested in exploiting western foreigners and in getting rich than improving the quality of their life.. I think if they cannot afford to feed so many children, they should avoid having so many children. It is irresponsible of them to breed with western foreigners and then expect poor western foreigners that they tend to look down on to support their children which they don’t seem to care much for, other than to show off their children to benefit themselves only.

  8. I agree that traveiling in cambodia like other congested heavy traffic asian cities that is full of inconsiderate vehicles drivers, is indeed very dangerous and very firghtening, and where the heavy fast moving traffic never stops for you or slow down for pedestrians, and one have to wait for eternity just to cross their congested chaotic roads.

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