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