Phnom Penh, Cambodia

On May 7, the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation released the results of a study on the cost and life-savings of the passage and enforcement of a Cambodian passenger helmet law​ for adults and children. The announcement is part of a cross-agency effort to persuade the Cambodian government to immediately enact and enforce a draft traffic law mandating passenger helmet use.

If the passenger helmet law is passed in 2014 and enforced in the beginning of 2015, helmet use rates among passengers are estimated to increase from seven percent to 55 percent in 2015 and by five percent each following year, reaching 80 percent by 2020. As a result, roughly 561 fatalities will be prevented, 10,572 head injuries avoided, and $98,618,422 USD saved from 2015 to 2020.

“This analysis demonstrates why the new law is urgently needed in Cambodia,” said Pagna Kim, Country Director of AIP Foundation. “We encourage stakeholders, partners, and the media to utilize this evidence in their advocacy efforts for the government to approve and enforce the draft law to reach the target of 80 percent passenger helmet use by 2020.”

“The study confirmed that the government is making the right move to have passengers, including children, mandated by law to wear helmets,” said H.E Poeu Maly, Secretary General of the National Road Safety Committee. “The law is now moving forward and we are stepping up our efforts with hope that it will soon be approved and enforced as our goal is to save many lives during the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.”

The model used by AIP Foundation to calculate life and cost-savings was adapted from those used in public health by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study supports AIP Foundation’s efforts to improve passenger, including child, helmet use over the next two years with financial assistance from an international development agency and two charitable foundations.

Check out the photos & press release