Cambodian Prime Minster Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet has urged the General Commissariat of National Police to further strengthen their action against drink driving to prevent road accidents, a leading cause of deaths and injuries in Cambodia. The Premier made the call while pressing over the closing ceremony of the two-day annual meeting of the Ministry of Information, organised at Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel and Residence this afternoon. Samdech Thipadei expressed his sorrow over the deaths due to drink driving in the capital recently, adding that traffic accidents kill more people than landmines. He thus called for review of alcohol control measure to avoid this problem. At the same time, he reminded all TV stations to stop asking people to go to the stage and open beer cans, which is a serious mistake, and urged journalists to collaborate in preventing the alcohol promotion and increasing the public awareness of the effects of alcohol. Early this month, the Ministry of Information has re-circulat ed a ban of any inappropriate promotion of alcohol on media, especially on TV. H.E. Sar Sokha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior also voiced his concern over the increasing traffic accident cases caused by drink driving, pointing out that in 2023, traffic accidents killed 1,952 people. Under the existing Road Traffic Law, anyone who drive under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of 0.4 to 0.8 is an offence punishable by an imprisonment from one to six months and a fine of up to 4 million Riel (about US$1,000), while those caught driving with higher than 0.8 are subject to even further penalties Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse