Public bus accidents increase marketly, police report says
Public bus accidents increase marketly, police report says
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The number of traffic accidents involving public buses in the
capital has increased this year, a Jakarta Police report says.
On average there were 28 accidents involving public buses a
month this year, compared 18 cases a month last year, the report
says.
From a total of 3,106 traffic accidents from January to Aug.
20, 229, or more than 7 percent, of them involved public buses,
it says.
Eighty seven people were killed in bus accidents, 135 others
were seriously injured while 141 people suffered minor injuries.
In total, 703 people were killed in traffic accidents so far
this year, while 1,753 suffered serious injuries and 1,311
suffered minor injuries.
Last year, the city police recorded 227 accidents involving
public buses. The number was lower than in 2002 where there were
217 accidents involving public buses, or over 18 accidents a
month on average.
However, the police did not record the number of fatalities
and victims in the 2002 and 2003 accident data that involved
public buses.
Police said poor maintenance and the unroadworthiness of
public buses were the main causes of accidents.
"Those who are supposed to be responsible for public bus
maintenance, particularly the bus operators, mechanics and
company management, did not do their jobs well. Some of the buses
last had their authority checks in 2001," city police traffic
division chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Naufal Yahya, said recently.
Law No. 14/1992 on traffic requires owners of public and
freight vehicles to obtain certificates of roadworthiness from
the transportation agency once a year.
Should their vehicles fail to pass the road check, owners must
improve the condition of their vehicles before undergoing a
second test.
The latest bad fatal smash in the city occured in August when
a public bus driving from Bekasi to Kalideres hit another bus and
a pickup truck on the Jakarta-Cikampel toll road. Fourteen people
died in the accident and 33 people were injured.
Traffic police officers who visited the scene after the
accident concluded a brake failure in one bus, belonging to
operator Mayasari Bhakti, caused the accident. However, without a
speed camera available along the toll road, police could not
accurately determine the cause of the accident, they claimed.
The driver of the bus fled the scene of the accident and
remains at large. Police did not hold Mayasari Bhakti responsible
for the accident.
Police said the reckless behavior of many public bus drivers
and the involvement of drugs and alcohol were other causes of
accidents.
They released general data on alcohol-related accidents this
year. There were 40 alcohol accidents from January to Aug. 20 in
which 25 people died, 26 others suffered serious injuries and 22
suffered minor injuries.