Public indifferent about benefits of safety belts

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indifference and unawareness marked the first day of the reintroduction of vehicle seat belt laws on Wednesday.

The Jakarta Post observed many drivers failing to wear seat belts, let alone police giving warnings.

"What ruling? Isn't that the old one? I thought it had been revoked," said a driver, Teddi, 28. "I think it will just go away like the previous one."

Yuki, 23, whose car is not equipped with seat belts, also expressed a similar response. "I didn't know we were obliged to use seat belts," he said.

The city administration tried to implement the law in 1993 but due to poor preparations, the effort was dropped.

The second effort in 1998 also failed because the public complained they could not afford seat belts because of the economic crisis.

Nevertheless, some motorists did use seat belts. However, it was mostly because they were more concerned with getting tickets than safety.

"I hardly use seat belts but I know about the new regulation. That's why I use it today. But many other drivers are not using their seat belts and the policemen are not giving warnings or anything," said Irna, 33.

Hendri, 34, felt the same way. "I always use seat belts because it's important. I know today is the first day of the regulation but I haven't seen any police ticketing drivers not using seat belts," he said.

Apparently, drivers were not the only ones who had no clue about the new ruling. The absence of police giving warnings might have been caused by the unawareness of the police themselves about the new regulation.

"Wasn't that regulation issued a long time ago? But no drivers are abiding by it. We don't really ticket them now for not using seat belts," said a traffic police officer, refusing to be identified, who had no knowledge about the new ruling.

The new implementation plan requires police would deploy more traffic officers and distribute brochures about the importance of seat belts.

For the first day of enforcement, police would concentrate their campaign on Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gadjah Mada, both in North Jakarta, and Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin, both in Central Jakarta.

However, drivers who were not using seat belts just drove right past traffic officers at intersections of those streets.

For the time being, police will not issue traffic tickets to violators but will only warn and record their driving licenses. Police are supposed to start ticketing traffic offenders in the next six months.

The implementation of the seat belts regulation is the consequence of Decree No. 85/2002 issued by the minister of transportation, which is the realization of Law No. 14/1992 on traffic.