The convening also served as an opportunity for the youth ambassadors to present a Distracted Driving Joint Statement to Her Excellency Min Meanvy, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and Secretary General of the National Road Safety Committee, His Excellency Him Yan, Deputy General Commissioner of the Cambodian National Police, and a representative from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The statement calls for action from government bodies and the broader community to implement effective measures that will reduce road crash deaths and injuries due to mobile phone distraction. Safety Delivered, which is supported by The UPS Foundation, works with young, inexperienced motorcycle drivers to improve their distracted driving behaviors while also working to increase child helmet use.

“The National Road Safety Committee supports the message of the distracted driving joint statement and applauds the efforts of Safety Delivered’s road safety ambassadors to bring these issues into the public consciousness. The NRSC will keep both the statement and the other ideas discussed today in mind when developing future implementation plans,” said Min Meanvy, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and Secretary General of the National Road Safety Committee.

In addition to H.E. Min Meany, more than 100 participants attended the dialogue, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports; the Cambodian National Police; private and civil sector organizations; partner universities, and Safety Delivered youth road safety ambassadors.

“There have been many good ideas discussed today and it is exciting to see such commitment to the issue of distracted driving and road safety by everyone involved,” said His Excellency Him Yan, Deputy General Commissioner of the Cambodian National Police said. “We look forward to working closely with the local community to translate these ideas into action.”

The event included panel discussions and interviews focused on how best to implement a workable action plan to address distracted driving. Themes of education and awareness, partnership and collaboration, and enforcement measures were among those discussed. The dialogue emphasized community engagement and collaboration with law enforcement as a proven pathway towards reducing the number of young lives lost due to distracted driving behaviors. Traffic police who participated discussed how enforcement best practices could be incorporated into the action plan and applied across Cambodia.

“I am continually impressed by the dedication of these youth to keeping their communities safe on the road,” said H.E Chek Lim, The Senior Representative from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports. “Safety Delivered’s peer-based education approach to raising awareness on road safety issues is a model that others can look to for how to effectively engage with the community.”

“Once there is a strategy in place, traffic police can cooperate under one unified approach. A combined effort from police and drivers to curb distracted driving behaviors will lead towards a positive result of reducing road crashes nationwide,” said Mr. Kim Pagna, AIP Foundation’s Cambodia Country Director.