Why do passengers dislike the traffic cop?

Since the prime minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, has paid attention to the traffic accident so much and the government has taken an action to reduce it firmly. The Phnom Penh city is improving everywhere and the traffic law is strengthened. Nowadays, all of Cambodian people have to respect the rules; especially when they drive, they must wear the helmet and their motorbikes putting the mirror absolutely in order to avoid serious accidents.

In addition, being drunk requires not driving because when they feel drunk, they know nothing and are unconscious. Therefore, they can face the traffic accident easily every time and every place. The traffic police have an important obligation to make the traffic smooth and good.

In contrary, some of them don’t complete their tasks as officials so well when they practice the traffic rules. And that is why all the citizens lose their trust on the traffic police and it can become disgusted and dislike them. In this case, most of Cambodian people don’t like the traffic police.

Actually, right now the traffic cop becomes entirely powerful, but some of them use the rules in a wrong way such as fining people without certain tickets, so they can keep this money in secret. Particularly, for poor people who haven’t known and haven’t learned the law clearly, they always have a lot of excuses to tell the passengers in order to make money personally.

Furthermore, they have a lot of strategies to get benefits from the unworthy people like taxi drivers. In fact, my cousin brother is taxi driver from Phnom Penh to Kompong Cham province and Kompong Cham to Phnom Penh; when I want to visit my relatives and grand mother who live in a village in Kompong Cham, I usually go there with him by his car. When he arrived at the central province in Kompong Cham, I saw him giving some money to the traffic police and I didn’t know why he had to pay for it. And then, I asked him why you gave money to them, and he said that if we didn’t pay, we were difficult to cross here.

This action indicates that it is one corruption, so people dislike the traffic police. Moreover, they hardly ever fine someone people who are high ranking or rich while they are driving a modern and luxury car, or they are officials and the same policemen in the department together. One day in the past, while I rode my bike on Monivong Street beside the traffic lights, I saw one traffic cop calling and stopping a driver with an old car without seatbelt. And at that time, another is like him without seatbelt drove an expensive car was not called and stopped.

Is it an accurate rule that the traffic police is practicing? I think it is not absolutely right. Whatever they are doing is no balance for all citizens. Therefore, this is big problem that the government should solve faster and better. If these actions and activities keep going and happening, I think that most of Khmer people don’t only dislike the traffic police, but also trust the government. In conclusion, as long as the traffic cops practice the laws accurately, all citizens can like.

(This article was written by Meas Sophy who is one of student in Phnom Penh)