PHNOM PENH, Jan. 3 (FN) — Road traffic crashes claimed 1,717 lives in Cambodia in 2016, down 14 percent year-on-year, according to a National Road Safety Committee report on Tuesday.

Among the dead, 1,276 people, or 74 percent, were motorcyclists, said the report.

Besides fatalities, the accidents injured 6,607 others last year, down 8 percent year-on-year, it said.

According to the report, some 3,700 cases of road crashes were recorded last year, also down 11 percent year-on-year.

"The main causes of the accidents were speed driving, 44 percent, alcohol driving, 12 percent and neglect overtaking, 12 percent," it said.

Road crashes are a leading cause of death in the Southeast Asian country. The government estimated that road accidents cost the nation more than 300 million U.S. dollars a year.