Poor reporting

Sat, 09 Dec 1995, 00:00 WIB

Poor reporting

In Wednesday Dec. 6, 1995, edition of The Jakarta Post your
article on page two, entitled Indonesians the worst drivers in
the world, contains a number of misquotations and is generally
totally misrepresentative of my speech given at the Traffic
Management Workshop at the University of Gadjah Mada in
Yogyakarta on Dec. 5, 1995.

Your article quotes me as saying "When it comes to traffic
discipline Indonesians are rated among the worst in the world." I
never made that statement, furthermore I do not believe it to be
true. Your article then claims I said "... lack of discipline
among Indonesian motorists is the chief cause of traffic
congestion found in the country's large cities." Again I never
made that statement and, as a traffic engineer, I do not believe
it to be true.

Your article goes on to quote me directly as saying "Compared
to other developing countries, the number of violations against
traffic regulations and signs in Indonesia is highest." Again I
never made that statement and I would not have done so because I
have no statistics with which to relate the number of violations
or even the rate of violations made in Indonesia compared to
other countries.

Your next direct quotation "I found that almost every traffic
marks and signs are violated," was also not made.

Your article quoted me as saying that I was puzzled by the
relatively low traffic accident rate in Indonesia compared to
that found in the West. I did make reference to accident rates
and compared the accident rate in Indonesia of 14 deaths per
10,000 vehicles a year with the rate in some African countries
which are 10 times higher. I congratulated Indonesia on having
such a low rate but added that there was no room for complacency
because many countries in the West have accident rates of two
deaths per 10,000 vehicles a year. This includes the UK which
considers even this rate to be too high and has a target of
reducing it by one third by the year 2000.

A transcript of my speech was available at the Workshop and
reference to it would confirm that your article totally
misrepresents it. Reference to driving habits and techniques was
a very small proportion of it and did not include any
international comparisons. It was used solely to illustrate how
channelization and road markings can be used to improve bad
driving habits.