Cambodia - December 5, 2014

The Cambodian National Assembly has today approved the new Road Traffic Law, in which motorcycle passengers—including children—are required to wear helmets. This is a milestone event after 8 years of collective efforts by many organizations, including the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation.

“When the draft law was about to ‘leave our children behind’ in 2011, AIP Foundation led an initiative that resulted in the inclusion of children in the draft passenger helmet mandate,” explained Mr. Greig Craft, President and Founder of AIP Foundation.

In response to research findings that 98% of the public was in support of a passenger helmet law, AIP Foundation then submitted a Joint Statement to the Minister of Transport in 2013 appealing for the law to be passed. This statement was mentioned in the UN Secretary-General’s report, Improving Global Road Safety, and has gained support from individuals, the private sector, and civil society.

In May 2014, AIP Foundation presented a study to the Government demonstrating that 561 lives could be saved, 10,572 head injuries prevented, and USD 98,618,422 could be saved by 2020, if the law was passed in 2014.

In collaboration with the FIA Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The UPS Foundation, Manulife, more recently USAID-DIV, and the Cambodian Government, AIP Foundation implements programs that have increased helmet use rates at schools from 0% to 88%.

“With the new Road Traffic Law, we hope to see similar results nationwide,” said Mr. Craft.

AIP Foundation commends the National Assembly for their leadership to pass this historic law.