Reckless bus drivers to be disciplined

JAKARTA (JP): The City Land Transport Control Agency will soon launch an operation to discipline reckless drivers of public transit vehicles, an official said yesterday.

J.P. Sepang, head of the agency, told members of the Organization of Land Transportation Vehicles Owners that the operation is designed to uphold traffic regulations as part of the national discipline movement.

"The operation is focused on public transportation drivers, who are notorious for their reckless driving and violation of existing traffic rules," he said, without giving details as to when the operation will start.

He reiterated that his agency will not hesitate to take stern action against drivers who are found guilty of violating the regulations. "They will be punished by having their vehicles impounded, or they will be fined in line with their violations," he said.

"We also will not hesitate to revoke the vehicles' license to operate if drivers cause the deaths of their passengers," he added.

Among violations commonly committed by transportation drivers are speeding, dropping and picking up passengers indiscriminately and failing to abide by the closed-door regulation.

"I ask all of you to tell this to the drivers so they know about the plan," he said.

Sepang further said the operation is intended to discipline passengers as well. Therefore, he urged Jakartans to wait for buses at bus stops instead of at undesignated places.

However, he admitted it is hard to discipline people when the police themselves are not able to make them abide by the regulations.

He explained that his office has set up railings at certain bus shelters in the city to encourage passengers to queue before entering buses, though the facilities are largely ignored.

Sepang added that the success in introducing a queuing system depends on the awareness of both the drivers and passengers. "If drivers ignore passengers at undesignated places, I believe the passengers will go to the bus stops," he said.

He said that his agency has also set up several posts in the five mayoralties as the main targets of the operation. In East Jakarta it will be conducted in front of the Indonesian Christian University compound and Cawang Atas area; in Central Jakarta in the Medan Merdeka area; in North Jakarta in front of the mayoralty office complex; while South Jakarta it will be carried out in Kebayoran Lama. (yns)