Never ending story

On Dec. 2, 1994, at 10 p.m., my car was hit by a President taxi. I signaled the driver of the taxi to pull over in front of the Grand Hyatt in order to exchange names, addresses, etc. Instead, the President taxi sped away and I was left with my damaged car in a big cloud of black smoke. After overcoming my surprise, I chased the President taxi on Jl. MH Thamrin, running a red light and driving helter-skelter as though participating in a slalom on the Swiss Alps. Finally I got him, even driving less recklessly as he. I jumped out of my car but the President taxi took off again.

What the heck is going on here, I thought and continued the chase like Don Johnson in Miami Vice. After again breaking several traffic regulations, I gave up after the President taxi entered Tanah Abang, which is known to be a place where a foreigner should not start a discussion about traffic accidents and liability.

One can imagine that my mood was below zero, a damaged car and an unsuccessful chase, and that on a Friday evening. So I reported the accident to the Police (Polda Metro Jaya). The officers were quite helpful and supportive. After two hours of explanations, I left the Polda Metro Jaya without my driver's license and car documents which had to remain in Police custody.

Four days later, I went again to Polda Metro Jaya in order to get back my documents and to learn whether the Police had located the driver. To my surprise, the Police informed me that the driver could not be located and my documents were still needed. It took me five weeks to get back my documents and the driver of the President taxi is still in hiding.

CHRISTIAN WILHELMI

Jakarta