Police turn a blind eye to jaywalkers

Police turn a blind eye to jaywalkers

Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Many pedestrians in the city deliberately ignore traffic
regulations, crossing the road when and where they please despite
available zebra crossings and footbridges.

Jaywalking is common everywhere, including major thoroughfares
like the 6.5 kilometer-long Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman,
which have a total of 16 footbridges.

Many jaywalkers, including white-collar workers, are aware of
their wrongdoings, but they violate the regulation for "practical
reasons", even if this damages the plants along the median
strips, or endangers themselves, especially if there is heavy
traffic on the road.

A noticeboard near the intersection at Sarinah department
store on Jl. Thamrin says that people should cross using the
footbridge. But Abdul Wahid, an employee of a private company
located near the department store, just ignores the sign. When
the traffic lights turn red he crosses the road. "I have to do
that because I am expected to arrive at my office soon."

Eki, a jaywalker on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, said she
preferred to brave the traffic rather than cross the footbridge
in order to save time.

"I realize I am wrong, but everybody does the same."

She quickly added that she only crosses the road illegally
when there are no policeman around.

But many police officers do not really care about jaywalking.

One policeman who was on duty at the crossroad near Sarinah
department store said it was not his task to warn jaywalkers.

"It's the city public order officers who should tell them to
abide by the rules," he said, adding that he was only following
his superior's orders.

But he later admitted that he could not do anything against
the jaywalkers because of the huge number of offenders.

"If I stopped them, I could be mobbed," he said.

Head of the City Public Order Agency Firman Hutajulu said that
the city administration had assigned many public order officers
to keep the city in order, including regulating jaywalkers.

"We are working together with the city police to help improve
the discipline of pedestrians," Firman said last week.

Article 2 of Bylaw No. 11/1988 on City Public Order stipulates
that every pedestrian should walk on the pavement along the road
and cross via a zebra crossing or a footbridge. Anyone caught
violating the bylaw could be sentenced to three months in jail or
fined a maximum of Rp 5 million.

Secretary of the City Traffic Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Gatot
Subroto said that the police have the right to regulate
pedestrians, as mentioned in Article 26 of Law No. 14/1992 on
traffic.

The regulations, however, are hardly ever implemented. In the
past, a few jaywalkers were caught in the so-called operasi
yustisia (justice operation), which was launched by the city
public order officers in cooperation with the police. The
offenders were ordered to pay a fine of several thousand rupiah.

In April 2002, the City Police named Jl. Sudirman and Jl. M.H.
Thamrin the city's pilot project area, where people should be
well-disciplined.

But the drive seems to have failed miserably.

Gatot warned that in an effort to improve public discipline,
the police and public order officers would soon launch an
operation to catch jaywalkers. He said it would be conducted in
the near future, but he could not say when exactly.