I'm comin' through! So you'd better get the heck out of my way!
I'm comin' through! So you'd better get the heck out of my way!
A recent Hollywood movie titled Rat Race features comedy actors
in a race to a small American town where a prize of US$2 million
awaits the first of them to reach the train station locker where
the money has been placed.
Frantic and hilarious episodes ensue as they struggle to be
the first to the locker. Frantic and sometimes hilarious episodes
also seem to be the order of the day on the roads of Jakarta as
the capital city experiences its own "rat race" on a daily basis.
The congestion and often kilometers of queuing cars that line
the roads of the city represent the worst excesses of big city
life but, like the characters in the Hollywood movie, the city
travelers do not always play fair and are also prone to do some
quite crazy things. Take the example of public transportation
providers.
In most European or American cities, public transportation
drivers would be thought of as being among the most reliable and
responsible of drivers. They are, after all, carrying members of
the public and have a duty to ensure that their paying customers
get to their destination safely. In Jakarta, almost the opposite
seems to be true.
Any notion of a duty of care to safeguard passengers seems to
be lost; instead, it seems that Jakarta's roads, and particularly
the toll roads, exist with the reality of racing buses. It seems
incredible that huge buses can sweep by at break-neck speeds. One
bus gliding past you in the fast lane, pumping black clouds of
exhaust as it goes is wild enough, but in the blink of an eye
another bus will sweep past on the inside, too.
In a glimmer, two large buses will overtake you right and left
in a pincer movement that, to the faint-hearted, would be scary.
Add to this crazy scenario the fact that both buses will likely
be filled to bursting point with passengers and the lunacy of
this bus racing begins to take on greater enormity.
With doors open because of excessive numbers of passengers,
these buses blast past. Should one overtake another in an
apparently unacceptable maneuver a potentially deadly game of cat
and mouse develops in which the winner seems to be the one who
will resort to the most frightening of lane changes.
Frightening lane changes are, though, by no means limited to
bus drivers. Private car drivers, too, are prone to some
outrageous overtaking. The hard shoulder, or breakdown lane, of a
toll road is not seen as an emergency area that should only
rarely be used. Many motorists see it as an empty lane and so an
ideal lane for overtaking. Regularly straying to the very edge of
the road, clouds of dust fly as these vehicles weave through the
traffic in a fashion that action-movie directors would probably
find interesting.
Weaving between lanes is normal practice, even if the
breakdown lane is respected, but there is no need to use an
indicator to give warning or even show that you want to change
lanes.
In Jakarta, motorists just go where they please. Indicators
are ignored and along with headlights are only really used to say
"I am coming! Get the hell out of my way!"
The idea of driving at a safe distance from the car you are
following also seems to be lost in the city rat race.
Should you choose to leave a safe distance between you and the
next car, you will soon see that distance reduced as another
motorist will leap at the opportunity to gain even one car's
length of advantage in the rat race. Inevitably, then, tailgating
is a common sight, but when seen at high speeds tailgating takes
on an uncommon and quite hair-raising appearance.
But it is not uncommon to see two cars racing along, seemingly
as one, with little more than an arm's length between them.
Fortunately, though, in among all of Jakarta's rat race there
does not seem to be any notion of road rage.
In the West, authorities talk of stress and anger induced by
motoring problems that leads to acts of violence. In Jakarta,
there almost seems to be indifference toward the dangers that may
exist on the road.
The use of a car horn seems futile. The motorist toward whom
it is directed will barely give a flicker of recognition not so
much as a blink of the eye, let alone a glance in the mirror.
Motorists may be seen opening cigarette packs, lighting their
cigarettes without a care in the world while going slowly in the
fast lane. Proud fathers will have their little children sitting
on their knee holding the steering wheel as they shoot along
overtaking in heavy traffic at well over 100 kilometers per hour.
Female drivers may be seen fixing their hair or touching-up
their lipstick in their rearview mirrors, oblivious to the line
of traffic stuck behind them.
A motorist that has missed his turn will just pull over and
reverse back to his exit without even so much as switching on
warning lights.
Like the Hollywood movie, then, Jakarta's rat race is full of
wild stunts and crazy escapades. But it is doubtful that many of
Jakarta's wacky racers are racing to win two million dollars.
Often those in this rat race are enigmatic, too. For example
one racer, seen weaving through traffic at high speeds, was only
a little later seen quietly pulled over at the roadside reading
his newspaper.
One wonders why all the speed is necessary. One also wonders
why there is such a lack of a code on the road. "Get out of the
way! I am coming through!" is the mentality of the majority
rather than the annoying minority.
Ultimately, it may be that Jakarta suffers from too much haste
and the risk and potential for much waste.
The haste with which so many drive around Jakarta is often
excessive and unnecessary and undoubtedly this can cause waste
with unnecessary injuries and even loss of life. The rat race can
be wild and crazy but ultimately we must ask "Is it really worth
it?"
-- Simon Marcus Gower