Accident History of ALS Bus Company: Two Major Tragedies Within a Year

JAKARTA - A series of accidents involving buses from PO Antar Lintas Sumatera (ALS) has once again come under scrutiny following the latest incident in North Musi Rawas, South Sumatra, on Wednesday (6/5/2026), which killed 16 people in a collision with an oil tanker truck. This event has reignited questions about the consistency of road transport safety oversight, particularly for intercity buses. Within the span of one year, PO ALS has recorded two major accidents with significant casualties. Previously, on 6 May 2025, an ALS bus on the Medan–Bekasi route crashed in the Bukit Surungan area, Padang Panjang, West Sumatra. Notably, the two events occurred exactly one year apart on the same date, drawing attention in discussions on road transportation safety. In addition to these two major incidents, PO ALS also experienced another accident on 7 September 2025 at the Padang–Sicincin Toll Exit, Pariaman. A tourist bus carrying a group of karate athletes from Medan suffered a single-vehicle accident after the driver allegedly fell asleep and lost control. The incident killed two people and injured dozens of other passengers. Although varying in scale, this series of incidents adds to the safety record that is now under public scrutiny for the bus operator. Transportation expert Djoko Setijowarno assesses that public attention to road accidents is often disproportionate to the scale of the casualties. “Both involving 16 deaths, the railway accident garners more uproar than the road one,” Djoko told Kompas.com on Thursday (7/5/2026). He views this situation as indicating that the high rate of road accidents is beginning to be seen as normal. However, data from the Ministry of Transportation shows an average of around three people dying every hour due to traffic accidents in Indonesia. According to him, patterns of fatal road accidents continue to repeat without adequate safety system improvements. “The government is still negligent towards road transportation safety,” he said. Djoko also highlighted oversight aspects, including findings that the bus involved in the North Musi Rawas accident was said to lack operating permits based on checks via the Ministry of Transportation’s Mitra Darat application. This finding has reignited questions about the effectiveness of public transport fleet oversight, especially for AKAP buses serving long-distance routes with high risk levels. Besides permitting aspects, several bus accidents in Indonesia also frequently show recurring patterns, from suspected braking system failures, driver fatigue factors, to the characteristics of extreme downhill routes that have not yet been fully matched with safety infrastructure. “Road transportation safety emergency,” he stated.