Flash Mob – Cambodia Style
Dec 6th, 2007 by Jinja
Above: a crowd gathers at the scene of a traffic accident.
Here at Jinja.apsara.org we like to keep up with the latest hip, happening trends. Mobile telecommunication technology has enabled people to assemble quickly for spontaneous events, leading to the ‘flash mob’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob
Cambodia has always been ahead curve, sans phones. When a traffic accident happens, it is negotiated and arbitrated on the spot, with a crowd of onlookers chiming in their opinions. Sometimes it’s resolved quickly and simply, other times it’s cheap public drama as each person asserts their case. Police arrive but depending on the situation and size of the crowd, even they may not be able to affect the outcome.
Want to see citizens take the law (and traffic rules) into their own hands? Anarchists take note.
Me? I’d be happy to see some effort made to improve traffic flow – and growing numbers of drivers with insurance. Western countries generally mandate that to drive, you must have insurance. Universal coverage is an impossible rule to implement with current Cambodian income levels; hit-and-run drivers often flee the scene. I once observed a car running a red traffic light late in the evening on Charles de Gaulle Boulevard, trailing a shower of sparks due to the small Honda firmly lodged underneath it.
More? Try Cambodia’s only dedicated (and opinionated) traffic blog, Crossing Cambodia.
lol.. Must be an Asian phenomenon. Its the same story here in India where I live.