Carmakers call for improved safety controls

By John Aglionby

THE tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, should remind Indonesians that people's attitudes when in a car and not the car itself determine whether they will survive an accident, automotive executives said this week.

The secretary-general of the Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers Association, Soeseno, said: "The most important thing is the driving manners of people on the road. This is what prevents the majority of fatal accidents, not the failings of the car."

Details of the Paris crash support this argument. The Mercedes S280 that crashed in the Paris tunnel was one of the safest cars on the road, complete with antilock brakes, driver and passenger air bags that inflate within one 600th of a second of impact and a protective cage surrounding the cabin.

Daimler-Benz executives have been quoted as saying that, "No matter what car the passengers would have been traveling in, there was no chance of survival."

This was because the car was going at up to 100 km/h faster than the 75 km/h at which current European legislation requires safety tests to be carried out for head-on collisions.

Mercedes describes these as "worst-case" accidents and says they account for less than 1 percent of all accidents around the world.

But one occupant, sitting in the front passenger seat, did survive, albeit only just.

The reason why Trevor Rees-Jones is still alive today is because he was wearing a seat belt. The others were not.

And while the accident would never have happened without the intrusive presence of the paparazzi photographers on motorbikes, it did not help that the driver, Henri Paul, had more than three times over the legally allowed amount of alcohol in his blood.

Soeseno believes the first step that should be taken to improve safety on the roads is to force drivers to take lessons and pass a strict practical and written test, as is the case in most Western countries, before they can get a license.

"Drivers here just do not care about other people on the road. They must undergo training. At the moment it is just pro forma to get a license.

"The only legal stipulation is that people must be 18 to drive a car and 17 to ride a motorbike.

"Even the best drivers take two to three months to learn how to drive a car properly and most people take a lot longer. But few people here have as many as two or three lessons, let alone two or three months of training," Soeseno said.

Wearing seat belts should also be regulated by law, according to Soeseno. "Few people like to wear seat belts here and the government does not even compel manufacturers to fit seat belts, let alone make people wear them," he said.

The assistant general manager of Honda distributor PT Imora Motors, Silvanus Rustandjaja, thinks many people have misconceptions about the magical properties of air bags. He said: "Yes air bags make a difference, but only if you are wearing a seat belt. Without a seat belt they usually make things worse."

Soeseno says the problem also lies with the authorities. "Everything is left to the carmakers to ensure people don't die on the roads. We are taking over the government's responsibility as the government is not taking the issue seriously enough.

"We cooperate very closely with officials but they should be taking the lead, not us."

Bimantara president director Jongkie Sugiarto agrees.

"Manufacturers can only fulfill the criteria stipulated by the government regarding technical specifications.

"In each and every accident there are many factors at work. Several of these could be reduced with stricter legislation," he said.

Jongkie would like all vehicles to have to undergo "technical fitness checks" every six months. Currently only public vehicles, buses and taxis, have to do so.

"The vast majority of accidents on the toll roads are caused by worn out tires. That should not have to be the case. And if people were forced to have their cars checked regularly it would not be the case," he said.

Traffic police should also enforce regulations more strictly, he said. "If, for example, pedestrians know they are going to be fined if they do not cross the road at the correct place, or bus drivers were forced to only stop at bus stops, then the situation would improve rapidly -- although it is not easy controlling 200 million people."

Indonesia could also follow the example of Singapore, Jongkie said, and make the media publish the names and photos of offenders. "No one believed Lee Kwan Yew when he said people would be fined S$500 for dropping cigarette butts. That soon changed.

"There's no reason why it cannot happen here."

Silvanus says Indonesians poor road discipline is mainly a cultural hang-up. "Indonesians have no problems following the regulations when they go abroad. But when they come home they often slip straight back into their old ways.

"They just dont want to follow the rules because they see others are not."

Soeseno believes instilling proper road discipline should be achievable.

"No it's not a matter of it being a dream. Provided we prioritize it and get sufficient human resources, I don't see why we cannot make drastic improvements in only a couple of years," he said.