Government mulls road safety plan
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Road accidents have consistently been one of the main killers across the country over the past five years, with an average of 27 fatalities per day.
Data issued by the National Police Traffic Directorate showed that 9,856 people were killed in 13,399 accidents in 2003.
According to the Directorate, recklessness and poor law enforcement are primary reasons of the worryingly high number of road accidents and casualties over the last five years.
Across the world, 140,000 people are involved in accidents every day, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Resident coordinator of the United Nations Bo Asplund said Wednesday that most of the fatalities in Indonesia were people between 15 and 40 years old.
Data from the National Police shows that 42 percent of all people killed in road accidents were aged between 22 and 30 years and 28 percent between 31 and 40 years old.
Approximately 42 percent of fatalities in road accidents are motorcyclists and 35 percent pedestrians.
Asplund said this substantial loss would result in a massive decline in productivity. WHO estimates that 2 percent of the national gross domestic product was spent to cover medical bills from accidents.
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar admitted that law enforcement was still ineffective. "There are still police officers who do not conform to the rules," he said, referring to officers who took bribes to "settle" traffic violations on the spot.
The government has been trying for years to implement safety precautions, such as the use of helmets and seatbelts, but to no avail. "People only obey the law when honest policemen are around," Da'i said.
The Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure agreed with the National Police on Wednesday that they would coordinate efforts in minimizing road accidents.
Health Minister Achmad Sujudi said the five ministries would form a team to evaluate major accidents and determine necessary improvements. The team, named The Global Road Safety Partnership, will be set up before September.
Each stakeholder will have different responsibilities. The Ministry of Transportation will establish an Accident Investigation Unit in all provinces while the police are being called upon to actually enforce the law and adopt strict regulations on driving license issuance and renewal.
The Health Ministry plans to set higher standards, as well as to develop and implement an integrated emergency management system to provide a timely and capable response to save lives. Road safety and safe community concepts will also be introduced in all schools.