Bus drivers to undergo health checks at terminals
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government will provide free health examinations for public transportation drivers at intercity and interprovince bus terminals across the country, and eye examinations for people applying for driving licenses (SIM).
The examinations are expected to reduce the high number of land accidents caused by human error, such as sleepiness and recklessness.
"There were 12,267 land accidents that brought 8,762 fatalities in 2002. About 86 percent of them were caused by human error, including physical condition and attitudes of drivers," Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar said on Monday.
The free health checks for bus drivers were contained in a memorandum of understanding signed by Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi and Agum Gumelar on Monday.
"The MOU would be followed up with more technical details. At least now we have the MOU first," said Sujudi.
He also said that another MOU might be signed by the ministries of health, transportation, and manpower and transmigration.
As an example of the details, he mentioned the eye examination provided for drivers applying for driving licenses. Eye examinations are important for drivers to find out whether they suffer from color blindness as traffic lights and other traffic signs are in color.What about being able to see the road?
Health examinations at bus terminals were also considered important to ensure that only drivers who are physically healthy can report to work.
Sujudi did not go into details on what kind of examinations would be provided.
During Idul Fitri celebrations in the past few years, police implemented a urine test for public bus drivers to ensure they did not drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Priority would be given to bus drivers as they are responsible for the life of their passengers, Sujudi said.
Agum also said that many Indonesians did not understand the priority ranks when they drive.
"The first priority should be given to trains, then ambulances and firefighter trucks and after that VIPs, such as the president," he said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Several public bus accidents in 2003: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Date Vehicles Location Victims Cause
Jan. 23 Sinar Jaya bus Tegal 18 died human
Wonosobo-Jakarta error
Apr. 22 Sahabat bus Jakarta- 11 died human
Cirebon-Jakarta Cikampek 11 injured error
Sumba Putra bus
Wonogiri-Jakarta
May 31 Pusaka bus Jl. Raya 9 injured human
Ciputat-Bogor Parung, Bogor error
Perdana bus
Tangerang-Bogor
Jun. 1 Lorena bus Jakarta- 2 died human
Surabaya-Jakarta Cikampek 8 injured error
Jun. 6 Langsung Jaya bus Brebes, 10 died machine
Tangerang-Solo Central Java problem
Jun. 16 Slamet Rahayu bus Gemolong, 15 died human
Jakarta-Malang Sragen 7 injured error
Jun. 20 Tri Kusuma bus Klawing river 11 died human
Purwokerto- Purwokerto error
Semarang
Jul. 12 Rosalia Indah bus Semarang 1 died slippery
Solo-Merak road
Aug. 20 Sangkuriang bus Sukaluyu, 1 died human
Sukabumi-Bandung Bandung 3 injured error
Aug. 23 Mulyasari Pratama Sukaluyu, 6 injured human
bus Bandung error
Sukabumi-Bandung
Sept. 18 Merdeka bus Ciamis, 2 died human
Banjar-Jakarta West Java error
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