Jakarta roads offer freedom for F1 wannabes
Jakarta roads offer freedom for F1 wannabes
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Neither the traffic or the potholes can stop some Jakartans from
speeding, and with the police turning a blind eye to the problem
speeding motorists have turned some roads in the capital into
their own private race tracks.
Of the 295,003 tickets issued by the Jakarta Police from
January to July, surprisingly not a single one was for speeding.
The highway patrol can often be seen cruising along the toll
roads, but they are also seemingly uninterested in citing
speeding drivers.
"No, we no longer use speed cameras on the toll roads,"
Marijanto, the operations director of toll road operator PT Jasa
Marga, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
"We did have a speed camera trial once. But almost all of the
motorists violated the maximum speed limit ... and the camera was
overloaded," he said. "So we decided not to use the equipment
because it would be very hard for the highway patrol officers to
stop so many speeding cars. Moreover, it would cause traffic
congestion."
Comr. Agus Carel, chief of the highway patrol on the Jakarta-
Cikampek toll road, said that besides causing traffic, chasing
after speeders could put other motorists in danger.
Instead, he said, the highway patrol often ticketed drivers
for driving too slowly.
On Aug. 15, a public bus speeding from Bekasi to Kalideres on
the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road hit another bus and a pickup
truck, killing 14 people and injuring 33 others.
The head of law enforcement at the Jakarta Traffic Police,
Adj. Sr. Comr. Naufal Yahya, however, said ticketing speeding
drivers would not be that difficult if only there was a serious
push to fine them.
The absence of data on the causes of traffic accidents in
Jakarta may have led some people to believe that it is
unnecessary to go after speeders, on the assumption that they do
not pose a serious threat to other motorists or pedestrians.
The latest data from the police shows that from January to
July this year there were 2,631 traffic accidents, in which 586
people died and 1,508 others suffered serious injuries. However,
there are no details on the causes of these accidents.
Naufal said that when people registered their cars, they had
to provide a mailing address. This would allow the police simply
to mail speeding tickets to car owners caught speeding on camera.
The World Health Organization announced recently that speeding
contributed to at least 30 percent of traffic accidents and
deaths. Neighboring countries such as Singapore and Australia
have identified speeding as one of the biggest killers on the
road.