Chain collision on toll road

JAKARTA (JP): A chain collision involving eight vehicles occurred on the Cawang-Grogol toll road in front of the Ministry of Manpower on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, at noon yesterday.

No fatalities were reported in the incident and those involved in the accident escaped without a scratch.

The crash took place when a speeding Kowanbinsata minibus plying the Pulogadung-Ciputat route failed to apply his brakes and hit a Suzuki Baleno bearing number plate B 2806 JT.

The packed minibus then veered left and crashed into the back of a Mitsubishi truck, which then bumped into a Merpati airlines Mitsubishi van.

At the same time, the Suzuki Baleno also lost control, hit the toll-road median before crashing into a Suzuki Carry van.

Because of the short distance between the cars, the chain collision was inevitable. The Suzuki Carry bumped into a red BMW sedan, which later hit the back of a Suzuki Escudo before rear- ending a Honda Civic sedan.

Officers of the police's rapid reaction unit arrived at the scene 15 minutes later. Police discovered the minibus driver, Hutagalung, did not have a driver's license.

"He said his driver's license had been revoked because he'd been involved in a traffic violation. And the minibus registration document expired last June," a police officer, who asked not to be named, said.

Hutagalung was taken to city police headquarters for further investigation.

The accident caused a traffic jam for about 30 minutes, but the police quickly got the traffic flowing again. (edt)