Chasing Cars, more than 1 month later ....

I could start of this posting by offering my apologies for not posting for such a long time. But I'm not. Traffic wise there's simply so little to report on. It's been hot so not so much traffic. Everybody is being wearing helmets so no wacky government / law instructions on that. And it seems like everybody is content.

• Starting with content. The

  'Bangkok/Siem Reap Overland Guide'
  

  has once more reinvented itself. Hardly any problems anymore with the road just with bus company rip offs and border problems. Why the bus companies and border officials can't solve this a la going to Vietnam is beyond me.

• An aircraft has been sighted at Sihanoukville airport. That's a huge increase over the past years 0 aircraft.

• Phnom Penh City is experimenting (on advice of the Japanese) with charging drivers for parking. Currently you are allowed to park virtually anywhere even to the extent of blocking traffic, who cares. The 'experiment' lasts a full week on a short stretch of inner city road. Wow!

  '...the point of the exercise, which runs through June 2, is to reduce the number of vehicles along Charles de Gaulle and discourage “anarchic parking”. Fees are being collected by Sky Security Service.
  Masato Koto, an urban planning consultant for the city who dreamed up the scheme, said his long-term vision was to restrict roadside parking along major thoroughfares to designated areas while imposing charges to drive down demand. By doing so, he said, officials could make Phnom Penh more pedestrian-friendly.
  “In other countries, sidewalks are only for pedestrians,” he said. “But Cambodia is different. Here sidewalks are for parking cars, so we have to change this characteristic.”'

  But the Cambodian side is already whining. Charges are too high. '

  Masato acknowledged that the charges had drawn criticism, but said they needed to be high in order to effectively deter parking.
  “If the cost is high, then people will no longer want to park here. That’s the point,” he said.
  “The number of cars is increasing every day, but the land in the city is limited, so we have to control the demand for parking.”'

  Yes, but now the rich dudes end up paying for something which was free. Where's the justice in this?

• An article in the Phnom Penh Post presumably about a new bridge north of Phnom Penh across the Tonle Sap river. Content of the article is about the more than 200 lorries Cambodia gets from China packed with 50,000 free military uniforms. This in exchange for kicking out a couple of asylum seekers, it seems.

• 

  'A weighty issue. A motodop driver and a security guard try to help a tuk-tuk laden with boxes of bottled water get back on its wheels at the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Street 214 last week'.

  Phnom Penh Post April 28, 2010.

• A huge piece in the Phnom Penh Post concerning the history of Cambodia's rail network. Saturady 5 June will see the Chinese House Express, a 3 hour (or longer) trip north of Phnom Penh with a jazz concert in a rice paddy.

• What's wrong with bus companies? They all suck?

• A new piece of the Phnom Penh city has been revealed. Three of the 12 roads have been approved of this 'secretive' city expansion. Part of the plan will be a flyover for which some city citizens will have to move.

• A miscreant in Siem Reap wants to sue the police because he failed to stop when required to do so by police. He was consequently hit on the head by traffic police with a walkie-talkie device so as to enforce the stop signal. It worked. He stopped and needed stitches. Miscreant claims expenses plus

  '$1,500 for mental illness compensation'.

  But arguably he was already mentally deranged before incident ....

• Finally Monument Books have nearly sold out of he Wall & Kemp Carrying Cambodia photo book. One can though still order from others such as Borders or Amazon. Or simply open up the Life in Cambodia website with arguably more interesting photo's.
  

Chasing cars, January 27, 2010

Helmet or not?

As reported on many prior occasions in this blog, the Phnom Penh Post (20 Jan. 2010) managed to get on the message that the helmet law enforcement is far from perfect:

'Despite the heavy publicity campaigns that were tied to the amendment’s adoption, compliance has been lacklustre, and it has failed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities over the past 12 months, according to government statistics'.

Well, let's just say that those statistics are good enough to spot trends. HIB, the NGO leading traffic safety in Cambodia, now says that change can take years, though Crossing Cambodia suspect that the failure to grasp law and law implementation are more immediate issues.
Increasingly over the last years judiciary and judicial systems have been used to enforce power to the rulers rather than something impartial backed up with law and jurisdiction.
Naturally this attitude is picked up even at the lowest levels of government enforcers. Last Saturday a motorcyclist was apprehended despite wearing a helmet and having mirrors while just a few seconds later a helmet less soldier slowly passed unobstructed the same checkpoint. Moral of this story? Become untouchable.

Anyway the focus of law implementation has briefly changed to:

• - unlicensed driving schools (what happened to the more the merrier?),
• - street vendors on Sisowath

  ('“I will move my stall back from the street, closer in to the building, but many vendors will not comply,” he said. “They paid money to the police to keep their businesses open as usual tomorrow.”')

• - and trucks in Siem Reap

  ('He [ the deputy director of the provincial Department of Public Works and Transport] did not specify a specific weight limit for trucks, saying that individual police officers would be tasked with determining which ones were overloaded and could potentially damage the roads'.)

Meanwhile,

• Vietnam Airline hopes Hanoi will become a hub for tourists from / to Cambodia. Odd this ambition, if the airline doesn't even fly direct between the capitals of these neighbouring countries ...

• Hot on the heels of the Poipet bus terminal which means passengers need to pay an entrance fee, the already very uncompetitive boats believe that this is the future:

  'It is hoped a new 15-by-35 square-metre hub will clean up the look of the port serving the roughly 70 to 80 passengers a day that use the existing terminal. Foreigners will be charged $1 to use the facility, he said.
  ...
  This decline [in tourist traffic in the port] was steeper than the overall decline in air arrivals to Cambodia – which fell just under 12 percent in the first 11 months – suggesting that tourists were increasingly choosing not to travel by boat, instead opting for more cost-effective modes of transport'.

Chasing Cars, March 16 2009

Virtually nothing to report, yawn, yawn. I hate this economic turndown! Nobody gets out and about to report on something unbelievable / normal for Cambodia.

Did you notice that somebody has donated paint to the Phnom Penh traffic department. They are painting all kinds of yellow and white lines, thick/thin, single/double. It's confusing all the traffic users! I even saw some new STOP signs! Being totally disregarded! Ha!

• Officials are now targetting parked cars. The city lacks any parking facilties, such that all sidewalks and even streets themselves are packed with parked cars. The Phnom Penh Post article though is a bit secretive:
  

  'Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Chreang Sophann said the proposed disciplinary measure, which no officials could elaborate on [because they failed to show up at work?], is designed to curb traffic congestion and would target hotels, restaurants and business centres.
  "I don't know when this would start because we are waiting for a decision from the governor," Chreang Sophann said. "It is a draft proposal and the decision depends on the governor."

  Great, more clamp downs on ghosts. But wait a minute.
  

  'Chreang Sophann said the decision to draft the proposal was reached during a March 4 meeting at which city officials discussed the problem of traffic congestion on the capital's streets'.

  A draft? Man, even if it were passed the men in blue will not enforce it over and beyond 48 hours. And man, these guys are busy:
  

  'Tin Prasoer, chief of Phnom Penh's Traffic Police, said about 100 motorists were fined for parking their cars on the street last year'.

  A resepected parking official from where I come from, does this by himself, alone in 1 day and that's his daily average!
  

  'He [the same githead] said he hoped public enthusiasm for the proposed crackdown on on-street parking would match that shown for the recent law requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets'.

  I'm falling off my chair here. Enthusiasm? Helmets? Nowadays most (60%, down from 80/90%) drive without! My god, what a country, what a city, what a people! What a news rag to put this on paper ....
  

• [after taking medication] Meanwhile in Siem Reap, authorities are more pro-pedestrian. Or for the time-being:

  'a large group of police gave businesses a warning on Monday before enforcing the regulation Tuesday morning. "If anything, it'll make it easier and open up the area more," Alex said [pub owner], "But I dare say it won't take long before people start sneaking their furniture back out again."

• Instead the other blog mentions that the guys with cash have been financing a training for the guys in blue. What did they learn? How to enforce the learn? Nope! How to operate a speed gun. How to do an alcohol test. What happened to walking the line! Fail proof!

  "Yeah man, what this gun he like. He not shoot. Better give us big real gun. Best way to stop bad driver. White guy give us no good gun. Better him give $20. We poor guy, all day stand in sun. Him have no helmet."

• Confrontation on the high seas? No, it's just the Tonle Sap and just in Siem Reap.

  'A South-Korean company, which is operating more than 100 boats, seems to be monopolizing the local market, and by doing so, it tries to push aside its competitors, in particular those belonging to the Association of Chong Khneas Tourist Boats'.

  Considering that this association has been ripping off tourists (or overcharging) for years and years calling the other guys black reminds me of an old english proverb ...

• On a lighter note down under New Zealand's answer to the economic woes is to ... create

  'a 3000km national cycleway
  ...
  Mr Key [NZ PM] said the cycleway was "a long-term thing that New Zealanders will look back on and be proud that they've got".

  Great idea. Or you could simply join the other's on the southern hemisphere, joining the other economy, getting on yer bike and outta of those clothes:
  '... the first ever Canberra edition of the World Naked Bike Ride came and went, without quite reaching critical mass, without altering the status quo or ending our reliance of petrochemicals'.

Chasing Cars, 1 March 2009

Followers (why has no-one registered Crossing Cambodia as to be followed?) of this blog may have been wondering what's happening. So have I!

To tell you the truth not much at all is happening. Being the first of March, one would have expected that the men in blue would have brought Phnom Penh under helmets by now, but that point is slowly slipping away. Crossing Cambodia estimates that helmet wearing has dropped from 80-90% to just 50-70%. This despite the more than usual coppers on the road trying to stop anyone vaguely offending some kind of rule. That's unless, like last Saturday, the offender was wearing an army cap (and no helmet). We're not going to stop him!

• But it's good to see something else pop up on the agenda. Once more. Now two years overdue.

  'National Police Chief Neth Savoeun has ordered police across the country to start punishing, as of May, any civilians or low-ranking police or army officers whose vehicles bear police or military licence plates.
  ...
  The crackdown would also apply to vehicles with no plates at all, he added'.

  Wish them luck. But as it is 2 weeks later, nothing to be seen! '

  She [Mu Sochua, opposition spokesperson] said an earnest effort to enforce the law, not more stern words about it, was needed. She added that a real crackdown on illegally procured plates was "beyond" the National Police chief, given how pervasive the practice has become'.

  Nearly everything is pervasive in Cambodia.

• Next up were

  'the motorbikes pulling overloaded trailers'

  The reason:

  '"We do not allow big motorbikes to tow trailers into the city because it causes traffic jams and makes the city look messy and disorderly," said Chav Hak, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Traffic Police'.

  Subjectivity at it's best. Put more bluntly, these guys are so unpowerful we can easily cash in on them! An offender:
  

  "We have spent more than 30,000 riels ($7.27) at police checkpoints along the national road from Kampong Speu to Phnom Penh," he said. "Look at the police. They are not skinny. We work hard, but we are still very skinny."

• Odd for a city where taxi's are nowhere to be found. Phnom Penh is mentioned in a list of cities where to avoid taxi's. That can't be too difficult then!
  

  'Therefore, we recommend making alternative travel arrangements in the following areas!'

  First in a unlisted list is Phnom Penh:

  'Phnom Penh is a friendly [compared to what?] and laid back tourist destination, but hailing a taxi is an experience you won’t particularly enjoy [because there are none?]. You won’t have as much trouble getting a taxi as you will getting rid of your driver once you reach your destination. Many drivers insist on becoming your personal tour guide, of course collecting fares for each destination they deliver you to along the way. Before you head to Cambodia ask your travel agent to recommend a few good transportation companies or you might want to try a rickshaw. You can easily hire a driver for an entire day for a minimal cost and without the scary stalker experience'.

  Load of ****. My own list would most certainly include Kuala Lumpur where the taxi-folk are 50/50 aforementioned word. Impolite, rude, greedy and simply obnoxious quite a few are the rotten apples there. Elsewhere? Bali, Singapore, Bangkok, Vientiane, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Mai are all ok, Kathmandu might be slightly iffy.

• Competition on the horizon? A 27 year old male propably working for Handicap Internbational has set up his own blog. And publishes statistics and the odd (uncited) article from the news concerning traffic safety in Cambodia. Looks pretty boring as there is no personal touch. And plays it safe! Ha! What's wrong with criticizing the Cambo officials?

• From the SE Globe:

  'Let’s be blunt. Phnom Penh isn't friendly to pedestrians. SUVs roar down potholed streets, horns screaming as pedestrians and motos scurry for cover. These “connected” drivers don’t need licence plates and the police don’t seem to car'.

  A nice readable article, a bit utopian here and there, but if one can't dream, what then?

  'Traffic engineers refer to three “Es”: engineering, education and enforcement. Engineering has been discussed, but education and enforcement remain. That’s why the government works with groups such as HIB. It has given the police 100 global positioning system (GPS) detectors so they can gather data about traffic accident trends. By mapping them, they can see the most dangerous zones for pedestrians and vehicles, said Sem Panhavuth of HIB. It’s a small step in the right direction. Pedestrian safety is paramount in a city that aspires to a higher world ranking than given it by National Geographic magazine and values its tourist industry. One conspicuous sign of prosperity is not traffic density but the recognition that grace and architectural beauty are better seen at walking pace'.

Public vs. private

The perpetual battle between private and public is coming back to the forefront. Roads are a classic example of a public space needed and required for everybody. However, Crossing Cambodia in the past few weeks has mentioned a road (to Bokor) being upgraded by private companies to stimulate private investment though it is unclear whether or not the previously public road will become private and if so what the fees might be. Discussed as well was the use of roads and sidewalks as parking space for successful companies' customers. Then there is the privatisation of the railways which again privatises a public investment with unknown returns. Yesterday's (Wednesday March 5, 2008) Cambodia Daily a Letter to the Editor harks forth on the same topic.

'Return public sidewalks to use for public. Provide the public with a smooth and peaceful walking area please!'

It refers to a TV programme which highlighted Phnom Penh traffic problems and how the government was dealing with this issue.

'However the program did not raise much about the issue of messy and disorderly sidewalks, which need to be addressed if we are to reduce traffic jams and beautify Phnom Penh. Homeowners, restaurants or hotels overtake most sidewalks.They try to own sidewalks. .... They park their vehicles on the sidewalk. ... Pedestrians always have to walk on the street to avoid stuff that has been placed or built on the sidewalk. Or walkers have to maneuver up and down the sidewalk in order to proceed. Why doesn't the Phnom Penh municipal authority do something to solve this problem? ... The municipal authority should push for public parking lots and no longer allow people to park arbitrarily, especially on narrow streets. ... Kimsan Chantara, Phnom Penh'

As if to compensate for that, 100 ramps to allow access for people in wheelchairs have been constructed on the west side of Norodom Boulevard. Note that Norodom is probably the road that has the least obstructions on the sidewalk as it's the alley for all dignitaries to parade themselves.
Paid by the businesses along Norodom? No (in Cambodia,it is customary for riparians to fund the construction of sidewalks) By the government then? No, but funding came from a 'semi-autonomous government body, the National Centre for Disabled Persons'.
A Handicap International spokespersons applauds the efforts:

'officials are on the right track. ... He added that as much as 8 percent of traffic accidents in 2006 involved pedestrians, highlighting the need for accessible sidewalks.'

Well, let's take a closer look at what they have done. Actually it's pretty amazing: at certain driveway's and side streets they have taken out the street stones and made ramps by applying cement. However, these ramps are sometimes quite steep, certainly not uniform. What's more, some side streets have them, others don't. Not very continuous. Crossing Cambodia included a couple of photo's:
The above example shows a ramp but after a couple of meters the sidewalk is blocked by cars, is it the World Bank that is using the sidewalk as a parking place? The next photo is even clearer, great ramp, but of no use!


Despite the sincerity of the project, one must ask the question why the heck initiate this if you can not ensure that the intended solution to the problem can not be obtained due to other reasons! All-in-all a good (i.e. bad) example of how the authorities muddle onwards trying to address the problems but never solving them!

Reporting your neighbour to ...

For those of you not familiar with the day-to-day ongoings in Phnom Penh, be informed: the English speaking expatriate community try to stay in touch with all ongoings by purchasing a 'not even so bad' newspaper called the Cambodia Daily, published six times per week. The sixth time is a weekend edition with little or hardly any local content. Through some kind of arrangement the Daily can access foreign press and freely replicates articles of little relevance, especially in the weekend.
Last weekend (January 20-21, 2007) an article was published called 'Snoop next door', originally from the Wall Street Journal. The full article however was not published (as available on internet), but a shorter version. The main theme of the article concerns how society is trying to wrest control over the individual via internet sites which frame and blame the deviants. The original article delves much more in the total society thing, whereas the article published here in Cambodia has a more 'traffic misdemeanors' side. It also refers to some links such as:

• platewire.com

This site is very US based. It gives an overview of number plates and with a click you can view a report, but no photo's. Example:

'Travelling West Bound on Bearse Ave going towards Dale Mabry in Tampa, Fl about 3pm. The driver of this 1998 or 1999 Mitsubishi Galant was a white male, age 50-55, dark hair, sunglasses, light color shirt. He wasn't speeding or weaving or doing any of the things most people write about here. He was just DRINKING A BEER!!! Yes MORON!! I called 911 and I hope the Hillsborough County Sheriffs through your old ass in JAIL!! CAN YOU BE ANY MORE STUPID? HOW ABOUT TRYING TO DRIVE BACKWARDS. THAT MIGHT IMPROVE YOUR JUDGEMENT A LITTLE'!!

• aboveaveragedriver.com

Though aboveaverage seems to concentrate on the positive, it is mostly about poor drivers. It has a great statistical page: in 5 years on the net, 16.609 incidents were reported, 95% of them were 'bad guys'. What's even more revealing is that over 10.000 incidents were reported by just 2 persons, meaning they reported three incidents per day for five years! There also seems to be some biasness in the car make: Toyota got reported most.

• irate-driver.com

Irate drivers is a site to report poor US drivers. No photo's, just:

'Motorcycle cop was driving 40 m.p.h. over the speed limit (approximately) 94 mph without his headlight turned on. I saw his bike parked at the weigh station a few miles up. So, he certainly WAS NOT on a call. Why is it that these cops are allowed to break the law everyday and NOT get tickets yet are able to give tickets to citizens. Makes me sick. He was going too fast for me to see his plate or to get a photograph'.

• baddriving.com

A UK based site. BMW gets the most incidents reported (does this reveal a sort of social tension, non-existent on the other side of the Atlantic?). They also mention 'the most easily annoyed member': he, who reports the most. They have photo and non-photo reports:

'As you can see from the photograph, the idiot decides not only to park on a bend, but sticks 90% of the car onto the path too. Not only would this be difficult to get past in a wheelchair or with a pushchair, but its even difficult for a pedestrian to get past. Also, whichever house the car was at, both houses near to where it was parked had empty drives, so it s not as though there was no place else to park'!

You can also sort reports by type of incidents ('Mobile phone pratt' or 'MLH: Middle Land Hog'). Oddly enough it also links through to 'speedcam' so you know how not to get a ticket. And to Canadian(!) accident lawyers.

• mybikelane.com

A not so very special exclusive US site. Entries are as such:

'This SUV was left driverless parked in the bike lane. They were using it as a loading area for the hotel'.

• caughtya.org

Though US based it reports also from other countries (none so far from Cambodia).An entry (with photo) from Singapore:

'A Ferrari with a brand new number plate in a disability parking space. Now, I've seen it all. What, other lots are not good enough? Anyway, justice was served: a Parking Attendant issued a parking offence notice. Perhaps the number plate on the car should have given the owner an inkling of the state of his luck'.

The reporters are dedicated. One even reports a pile of dirt (in California) on a parking space for the lesser accessible individuals:

'This isn't so much an infraction as a dumping. The space where you see that big pile of dirt is an accessible parking bay. Does that pile of dirt have a permit? I don't see one'.

DHL van's also parked in the same reserved spaces (from Auckland, NZ) as was a 'yellow construction truck' on university terrain in Palmerston North, NZ.

• youparklikeanasshole.com

Their motto:

'Sick of a car taking up two spaces on the street? How about a car too close to yours? What about the car at the mall parked diagonally? Now you can do something about it. Simply download a notice and place it on the car's windshield. The owner of the vehicle will be informed of their asshole status as well as the proper tips to improve their poor parking techniques. It's time to put an end to asshole parking, or at least to make fun of it'.

The site has hardly any reports, just lot's of photo's of cars parked outside of the parking spaces.

One site missed was the monkeymeter. In the US you can rate your own or a neighbouring city for road rage: New Brunswick is leading the rage. A site dedicated to US road rage complete with photo's and city top ten of road ragers.

What all these sites have in common is that they are assisting law enforcers trying to bring a certain politeness in traffic (bringing it back?). In the western more effluent world, the attitudes seem to be getting worse. As law enforcement is very often a case of efficiency, these sites have been created by volunteers intent to get rid of their own rage on the fellow citizens ...

Back in August Crossing Cambodia referred already to the Malaysian state site dedicated to improving traffic politeness. The Malaysian government sees it as their task to (re-) educate their citizens. Since Crossing Cambodia's referral, the site has not been very active.

The photo above was an 'awarded' photo: not so common in Malaysia apparently ...

It reports that the number of fatal accidents dropped in 2006 (reported on the 2nd of January 2007!), but the number of fatalities rose slightly. The response: 'random drugs tests'! The 'Hall of Shame' photo section is dedicated to motorcyclists with no helmets (shock, horror!)

But the relevance of all this for Cambodia: zilch. What warrants setting up a web site in 1 country is a big laugh over here. Rules are non-existent, enforcement ditto. So why complain about drivers parking on the walkways, clients of a Mobile phone network blocking Sihanouk Avenue, cars driving 100 km an hour in busy built up area's, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc., etc., ....?

A radical solution to the Asian anarchy (is it limited to Asia?) is presented by Guangzhou, China: banning all motorcycles from the city. Logic: driving a motorbike, you need a helmet, means you are invisible, means you are a criminal. No motorcycles, no criminals. It's true!

Letters to the editor: City officials should obey traffic laws (as opposed to ...)

Today's (October 25, 2006) 'Letter to the editor' in the Cambodian Daily:

City officials should obey traffic laws


I'm so tired of having to risk my life walking on crowded city streets because I am unable to walk on blocked-up sidewalks. I have nearly been run over more than twice this month.
Public disorder is under the jurisdiction of the municipality. But earlier this month, I was left speechless when I saw a Phnom Penh vice-govenor and a karaoke star-turned-district official park their flashy Toyota Land Cruisers right accross the pavement on a busy street near my apartment.
Their parking behavior was not only a classic example of what not to follow, it is also a slap in the face to godd drivers and citizens alike.
Well-respected leaders lead by example. Obey the law first and the general public will follow suit.

Vuth Chansarei Phuon, Phnom Penh