Fatal accidents on the rise
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fatal traffic accidents in the capital have risen by 37 percent to 334 casualties as of August this year compared to a total of 243 fatalities in the same period last year.
Jakarta Police Traffic Division chief Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Ishak told a media briefing on Friday that the main cause of the accidents was recklessness and negligence in abiding by road rules.
"Motorists' negligence in abiding by road rules has cost lives," he said. "However, we have not counted those injured or material losses incurred in the accidents."
A total of 368 people were killed in traffic accidents last year. Another 682 were seriously injured and 420 received minor injuries. Material losses amounted to more than Rp 3.7 billion (US$435,294).
So far, traffic accidents reported to the police have risen by only 4 percent to 806 cases compared to last year's 777 cases in the same period.
However, the figures did not include minor traffic mishaps, which in most cases, were settled between the parties involved and not reported to the police.
Sulistyo emphasized that worsening public discipline was behind the rising trend in motorists being ticketed for breaking road rules, including riding a motorcycle without a helmet, driving a car without carrying a driving license and so forth.
Police data shows that the number of motorists ticketed jumped from 16,643 and 16,039 cases respectively in January and February to 24,935 in July and a massive 40,889 cases in August.
In addition, Sulistyo admitted that many of his personnel also failed to enforce the regulations.
"Every week, we are taking disciplinary action against around 10 policemen who are found guilty of taking bribes from traffic violators," he said.
Sulistyo excused the rampant practice of soliciting a settlement "fee" by policemen due to the meager reward given to the low-paid policemen who ticketed traffic offenders.
Police, he said, only obtained a mere Rp 500 for each ticket issued.
A traffic violator may have to pay between Rp 150,000 and Rp 500,000 in fines for each ticket.