Chain collision on toll road

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"He said his driver's license had been revoked because he'd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)