Jakarta to regulate tinted car windows

Damar Harsanto and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The high number of violations during the extended three-in-one traffic policy on its first day of implementation has prompted the Jakarta Transportation Agency to call on private car owners not to put tinted films on the windows of their vehicles.

"There is a limit to the opacity of tinted films, which is 60 percent," agency head Rustam Effendy said on Tuesday.

However, Rustam was not certain whether the limit was already included in City Bylaw No. 12/2003 on traffic.

"If it is not yet there, the city administration will amend it and include this particular point in the bylaw," he said.

Government Regulation No. 44/1993, Article 82(3) on vehicles and drivers stipulates that car windows can be fitted with a tinted film of limited opacity.

Rustam said agency officials had reported that some motorists had been putting on darker tinted films in order to trick police officers at check-points in the restricted zone from Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta. The policy was set up to support the capital's busway, which aims to encourage motorists to switch from private cars to busway buses.

At the ASEAN Secretariat intersection in South Jakarta, officers were observed asking passing private cars to slow down and open their windows so they could check that each vehicle carried at least three passengers.

Aside from the 780 violations during the three-in-one recorded on Monday by the Jakarta Police, the transportation agency recorded an additional 312 violations, totaling 1,092 violations.

On Tuesday, police ticketed 870 motorists for three-in-one violations.

Trucks traveling through the restricted zone were also seen along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk with three passengers as required by the policy.

A truck driver said they had to take another passenger because they could not find alternative routes running parallel to the corridor to reach their destination.

Traffic from Harmoni intersection to Kota railway station was less crowded on Tuesday, compared to Monday.

However, the situation changed drastically after 10 a.m. as private cars started to pack into these areas and cause congestion, particularly at Harmoni intersection, Glodok Plaza and Kota intersection.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic was also seen around the Pemuda Statue (also known as "The Pizza Man" and "Hot Hands Harry") traffic circle and the Semanggi cloverleaf.