Concerted efforts needed to reduce traffic accidents
Concerted efforts needed to reduce traffic accidents
JAKARTA (JP): The bodies of the 31 people who were killed in
last week's traffic accident on the Jagorawi toll road have been
buried. That, however, does not mean the story has ended. The
authorities are still probing the case, collecting evidence to
decide who should be held responsible for the dreadful tragedy.
The accident on March 23, one of the most horrible road
mishaps in the country, occurred when a Kramatdjati bus turned
into an inferno after smashing into a Toyota jeep at the Jagorawi
turnpike, 40 kilometers south of here.
All blamed the driver, Agus Arifin, who jumped out of the bus
immediately after the collision. Most of the passengers were
trapped in the vehicle and failed to escape as they could not
open the automatic doors.
Agus, who is in his late 30s, admitted that he had taken
barbiturate pills before driving. Several pills were also found
in his clothing.
He said he left Bandung at 1 a.m. on March 23, and arrived in
the Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal in East Jakarta three hours
later. He slept after taking several bottles of beer. As soon as
he got up at 8 a.m., he took two barbiturate pills, picked up his
passengers and left for Bandung.
At around 10:30 a.m., as he was traveling along the Jagorawi
toll road, he tried to overtake several vehicles by swerving on
to the hard shoulder. He did not see the three cars which were
parked there, and hit a Toyota jeep which was at the end of the
line.
No vehicles are allowed to stop on the hard shoulder of the
highway. In an emergency, motorists may park there but they have
to put up a safety triangle to warn other motorists of their
presence.
The Toyota jeep was reportedly parked there as the driver
wanted to add some water to the radiator. The other two vehicles
stopped because they were driving as a group. The travelers were
on their way to the Safari Park in Cisarua, Bogor.
The accident would not have happened if the bus driver had
shown more discipline. The bus would not have smashed into the
Toyota jeep had it not stopped on the hard shoulder of the
highway. It might not have happened if the bus driver had not
taken barbiturate pills earlier in the morning.
But there are no time machines, and there is nothing people
can do to change what has happened. A relevant question is how to
prevent more accidents.
The Jasa Raharja state insurance company has paid compensation
to the relatives of some of the victims. The Directorate General
of Land Transportation has revoked the license of the Kramatdjati
bus. The driver, who is still in police custody, will probably
stand trial. But, neither the money nor the revocation of the bus
license nor any punishment that may be meted out against Agus can
bring back the dead. Agus might be charged with murder based on
Article 338 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum 15-year
jail term.
Last year the North Jakarta District Court found a Metromini
city bus driver, Ramses Silitonga, guilty of causing the death of
33 people in a horrible accident on March 6, 1994. He was jailed
for 15 years.
The packed Metromini bus was speeding when Silitonga lost
control. It plunged into a highly polluted river and most of the
victims drowned in the dirty water.
The judges pointed out that Metromini bus drivers are
notorious for their poor discipline. Thus, the sentence was a
warning that the court would not hesitate to mete out stiff
punishment against other reckless bus drivers.
It seems, however, that despite the harsh punishment given to
Silitonga, things remain pretty much the same. Many bus drivers
continue to drive recklessly, showing little discipline and
little, if any, care about passenger safety.
Some of them claim they have to speed up because "time is
money." If they can save time, they will be able to make more
trips and pick up more passengers, and that means more money.
Otherwise they will not be able to make both ends meet.
It is easy to put all the blame on bus drivers, but the
problem is more complicated than just their poor discipline and
desire to earn as much as possible. Bus drivers are not the only
one who lack discipline. Motorists too often violate the minimum
speed limit of 80 kmh on intercity toll roads and 40 kmh for city
toll roads, driving slowly in the fast lane, forcing other
motorists who are in a hurry to overtake them from the left, thus
violating the regulation prohibiting overtaking from the left.
The 29 Kramatdjati passengers who were burned to death died
because they could not open the automatic doors. The surviving
passengers blamed the driver because he did not open the doors
before jumping out of the bus. But the Indonesian Consumers
Protection Foundation also believed that the bus company should
share the responsibility as it did not provide any fire
extinguishers or hard objects to break the windows in case of an
emergency. The foundation also said that large public buses
should be equipped with emergency doors.
Facts show, however, that the main reason behind traffic
accidents is the lack of discipline. Only a few cases occurred
because of engine troubles or poor road conditions.
The police have made some efforts to improve discipline among
motorists by regularly launching special operations to catch
traffic violators.
National Police Chief Banurusman Astrosemitro is determined to
pay serious attention to the traffic as he is aware that fatal
accidents could happen at anytime.
"We will focus mainly on the improvement of the public's
awareness of the law and the police's attitude to its
implementation," he said recently.
It is no longer a secret that in many traffic cases, violators
prefer to settle the case "peacefully" by handing over a sum of
money, which is all too often accepted by the police.
Both drivers and passengers need to show more discipline. But
at the same time, the authorities should be persistent in taking
action against traffic violators. This is not a guarantee that a
road trip will be 100 percent safe. But at least, the number of
traffic accidents might be reduced and more lives saved.
(sim/bsr)