Pile-up on Bintara Toll Road suspected to be caused by driver experiencing micro-sleep

A multi-vehicle collision on the Bintara Toll Road heading towards Cakung, Jakarta, resulted in one fatality and two injuries on Saturday. The accident, which occurred at KM 54.600, is suspected to have been caused by a truck driver experiencing a micro-sleep.

According to the Head of the Polda Metro Jaya Highway Patrol Unit, AKBP Rieki Indra Bratamaanggala, the incident began when six vehicles were travelling in the first lane from Bintara towards Cakung. As traffic ahead began to slow down, the first five vehicles successfully reduced their speed. However, the sixth vehicle, a truck, failed to decelerate.

The truck, driven by Gandi Sugandi (59), slammed into the back of the fifth vehicle, a trailer, triggering a chain reaction that pushed the vehicles into one another. The pile-up involved the truck, the trailer, a light truck, another trailer, a box car, and finally a pick-up truck. The force of the impact caused the vehicles to pile up on the road’s shoulder.

Gandi Sugandi, the driver of the truck that caused the accident, was crushed in his cabin and died at the scene. Two other drivers, Hamdan Hidayat and Jajang Irawan, sustained serious and minor injuries respectively and were rushed to Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Jati Asih. The case has been transferred to the Traffic Accident Unit of the East Jakarta Metro Police for further investigation.