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)