The number of traffic accidents in the first five months of this year in Cambodia rose by 20% from the corresponding period last year to 1,829, revealed Colonel They Visal, chief of the Cambodian Traffic Police Office.

The number of people who died as a result of the accidents was 868, an 8% increase from the five-month period in the previous year, said insurer AIA Cambodia in an article in The Khmer Times.

The number of people who suffered serious injuries in traffic accidents also rose 20% to 1,787 in the first five months of this year.

Colonel Visal added that a total of 1,761 people died on the country’s roads in 2018, and accidents cost the government $300m per year.

In 2017, a total of 1,900 people lost their lives, with most victims aged between 15 and 25 years, according to statistics from Cambodia’s General Department of Land Transport.

The Cambodian government has repeatedly stated its concern over the high number of deaths and serious injuries caused by traffic collisions.

In the meantime, the rate of new vehicle registrations is rising rapidly year-on-year, from 176,389 in 2017 to 241,671 in 2018, according to data from the Public Works and Transport Ministry.