Poor reporting

Sat, 09 Dec 1995

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.