Drowsiness leads to pile up

Drowsiness leads to pile up

TANGERANG, West Java: A sleepy truck driver caused a four-car
pile up on Jl. H. Juanda late Wednesday.

The driver was heading toward Ciputat when he crashed into the
car in front of him pushing it into the two cars ahead of it.

No one was seriously injured.

The accident occurred about 8:30 p.m. and caused a three-hour
traffic jam from Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, to the accident
site.

A police officer said it was lucky the truck was empty because
if it was loaded the driver would have had more difficulty
applying the brakes.

The driver would not be detained because he caused no serious
injuries, the officer said.

The truck's windshield was smashed and a public transport
minivan was badly damaged. The minivan then crashed into a taxi.
The taxi driver said he would need Rp 1.5 million to repair the
taxi.

The truck driver, Jun, said yesterday he had been driving for
almost 24 hours. He said he had been a truck driver for two years
and that long shifts were normal.

"I'm often sleepy but nothing like this has happened," he
said.

Jun said he had no assistant to warn him because his assistant
had run away. The assistant was afraid of his employer because he
lost a receipt for the cargo they were carrying, Jun said.

Jun said he bribed police to get a driver's license "just like
many other truck drivers." (anr)