In case you're looking for the AAA Cambodia

A relatively uncrowded van on the road between Pnom Penh and the Vietnam border. There were twice as many people inside the van, as well.

It appears the Cambodian traffic laws are as follows:

1. If possible, try to stay more to the right side of the road.
2. Whoever/whatever vehicle is going faster has the right of way.
3. Don't worry about getting gas in advance- every third home will have petrol for sale on the side of the road, quite handily measured out into 1L Coca-cola bottles. Funnel and umbrella provided.
4. A horn is useful for many things, but should especially be used to warn every single moto, van, petrol truck, tuk-tuk, naked child, pick-up, toyota camry (i.e. taxi), dog, chicken, pedestrian, plow motor+handle on wheels, bus, etc. you encounter that you are coming up behind it and may be passing (keep rule #2 in mind). A turn signal is polite but unnecessary since a loud horn is so much more effective.

These rules manifest themselves in the following ways:

Read the rest...

• Notice there are no capacity rules. If you can fit 2 tourists with one full-size backpack and one daypack a piece plus a driver on a single moto, 14 people on top of your van, 17 on a flatbed behind a moto, or 2 dozen in the cab, on the cab, and in the bed of a pick-up truck, that's fine. In fact, those on the cab are especially useful if your windshield wipers fail to function in an afternoon monsoon downpour, providing you can detach one blade for manual use.
• Per rule #2, the vehicle hierarchy is directly related to speed with slight adjustments for size. Speed is more important in passing and size in turning. It seems to go as follows:
  • bicycle
  • cyclo
  • tuk-tuk
  • petrol truck
  • moto
  • pickup truck
  • car
  • coach/big bus
  There is no need to remain behind a vehicle lower on the list than your own. Rules #2 and 4 dictate that you simply tap lightly on the horn for a few seconds (or, alternatively, hold the thing down for the entire episode). The vehicle in front of you will hear the horn and be aware that you are aware that if they swerve left or fall over they will get run over. Said vehicle should move further to the right (or not) to provide more space for passing. It does not matter if there is no more room on the swath of dirt or concrete for oncoming traffic; you probably sped up to pass, so that vehicle coming straight at you at a shockingly fast speed should slow down and wait for you (see rule #2).
• As there are few, if any, traffic lights (and who needs stop signs anyway), cross an intersection or turn left by slowly budging your way into oncoming traffic. No need to wait for a break because there won't be one. Just weave your way across, Frogger-style, making eye contact with oncoming drivers if necessary so they can see your humanity and take pity on your plight. Alternatively, if in a smaller vehicle such as a moto and turning left, feel free to turn immediately, keeping to the left side and heading straight into oncoming traffic. Continue on the left side of the street, avoiding those heading your way, until a more appealing break makes it possible to scoot over to the right side (see rule #1).

Side note: When it rains, you get wet and muddy, so no need to slow down through those attractive red-orange mud puddles, even if you are in an open vehicle and passing an open vehicle or pedestrian. If in a car and a puddle is so big that the spray entirely covers every transparent surface and you feel as though you were suddenly plunged into a vat of warm caramel, no need to stop. Simply turn on the windshield wipers (or use the person on the roof); you don't need anything but the front windshield to drive anyway.

(Oh, and if your taxi's engine begins to make strange noises and then fails to turn over at all on a dirt road in the middle of central Cambodia, simply borrow a bucket from the closest house, fill it with water from the closest puddle/ditch (you shouldn't have to go far), and dump the entire thing on the engine. Also be sure to flip that mysterious switch under the dash a few times. Works like a charm every time.)

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A few photos to bring home the point...

Motos, motos, and more motos. (OK, this is actually Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam, but you get the idea.)
What was that about mud on the windshield? Our taxi from Poipet (Thai border) to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat).
Our taxi again- this is the mechanic we stopped at in some random Cambodian city. We were just so greatful we made it to said city, what with the land mines off the side of the road and all... We think they did nothing but pour some clean water in the radiator, but whatever it was, it worked!
Here is one of those "gas stations" we were talking about.

(Regretfully, we do not have a photo of the man on the cab of a truck hand-wiping the windshield during a downpour, but it did happen. Really.)