'No middlemen in court, please'

The new three-in-one traffic policy gives motorists one more chance to get a ticket. Under Law No. 14/1992 on traffic, offenders of the three-in-one rule can receive fines of up to Rp 1 million (US$119). The size of the potential fine, not to mention the timely court proceedings, means many people prefer to bribe police officers to avoid a ticket. The Jakarta Post talked to some residents about the issue.

Rozak, 26, works at a consumer goods company in Jakarta. He lives with his wife and son in North Jakarta:

I once went through a red light at an intersection in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, because I could not see the light clearly, and a policeman stopped me.

I wanted to bribe him but my wife, who was with me, insisted on taking the ticket and settling it in court. She said bribing him would not help to promote discipline among the police or motorists.

As soon as we arrived at the court, several middlemen stopped me and talked me into using their services, which they said would save me time. The middleman charged me Rp 70,000 whereas the official fine was only Rp 15,000.

And a friend of mine said that he only had to pay a Rp 2,000 fine because he didn't use a middleman.

I would choose to go to court again, but next time I won't use a middleman.

Nurhuda, 30, works for a foreign media firm in Menteng, Central Jakarta. He lives in Depok:

I bribed a policeman last year who stopped my car near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. I tried to give him Rp 20,000 but he rejected it and asked me for more because I was driving a Mercedes-Benz. We bargained and eventually agreed on Rp 50,000.

I know it's wrong, but I have had bad experiences the last couple of years. I tried to comply with the existing procedures and take the ticket when I was stopped for violating the three-in-one policy. But the annoying bureaucracy at the police station defeated me. In the end, I contacted the policeman who ticketed me and gave him some money to settle the matter.

-- The Jakarta Post