Academic: Electric Vehicle Regulations Needed to Prevent Repeat of Train Accident Tragedy
Jakarta - An academic in Public Administration from Universitas Krisnadwipayana (Unkris), Catarina Cori Pradnya Paramita, has stated that regulations for electric vehicles are necessary to avoid a repeat of the recent train accident tragedy.
According to her, the train accident in East Bekasi on Monday (27/4) indicates a gap between policy (regulations) and field implementation.
“Although regulations related to transportation and railways already exist, this is not the case for electric vehicles,” said Catarina in a statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She stated that more concrete and comprehensive regulations are needed because without firm regulations on electric vehicles, it will also reduce people’s interest in buying them.
In Singapore, since early 2026, doubts and practical criticisms from residents and observers have emerged regarding electric vehicles (EVs), one of the reasons being the sensitivity of electric vehicles.
Therefore, she believes the Indonesian government must be more cautious and create regulations that can truly address issues, especially in emergency conditions.
In emergency management, she mentioned mitigation and preparedness, where in facing emergencies, recovery and rapid response are needed.
Thus, Catarina recommends strengthening government coordination in line with the New Public Governance (NPG) concept as well as public accountability reforms that clarify the division of responsibilities among actors.
She explained that there is currently a paradigm shift in public administration from Old Public Administration (OPA) to New Public Management (NPM) and NPG. The NPG concept emphasises efficiency, performance, and output measurement or results-oriented in the public sector.
Likewise, she continued, organisational capacity enhancement is needed through the development of technology-based risk management systems.
“The need to apply new public service principles that prioritise safety as a public right and build high-reliability systems so that a transportation system resilient to errors is created,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Public Administration at Unkris.
Thus, she described the Bekasi Timur train tragedy as more appropriately understood as a systemic error, not just an individual mistake. Because a good system must be able to anticipate human errors.
Therefore, she hopes for comprehensive improvements through strengthened governance, accountability, and bureaucratic capacity, so that the public feels safe and comfortable using transportation.
The Bekasi Timur train accident tragedy began with an incident involving an electric taxi that stalled at the Level Crossing 85 (JPL 85), near Bekasi Timur Station, which then caused the Commuter Line electric train to collide with the taxi and trigger a subsequent collision by the Argo Bromo Anggrek train.
Previously, Polda Metro Jaya revealed the statement of the Green SM taxi driver with initials RRP who survived the train accident incident at the Ampera level crossing in East Bekasi.
Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya, Commissioner General of Police Budi Hermanto, explained based on the person’s statement that at that time the vehicle stopped or died at the railway level crossing.
“When the driver wanted to get out and open the door, he couldn’t. The transmission shifted to park,” he said when met in Jakarta on Friday (8/5).
Then, Budi explained that the driver tried to turn off the vehicle, open it, and then was able to lower the car window.
Thus, he continued, the driver was then able to exit safely from the vehicle assisted by nearby residents through the driver’s side window.
However, when confirmed regarding the cause of the vehicle stopping or dying, Budi stated that this is still under investigation.