Reckless driving blamed for growing road accidents
Reckless driving blamed for growing road accidents
JAKARTA (JP): The number of nationwide traffic accidents in
the first six months of this year has reached 8,856, a 12.48
percent increase from the 7,873 of the same period last year,
says an officer.
Accidents this year have killed 6,295 people and injured
12,112 others compared to 5,634 dead and 10,529 from January to
September last year, National Police Traffic Chief Brig. Gen.
Ansyar Roem said Saturday.
"With an average of over 10,000 people killed in traffic
accidents every year, this is not a good sign," said Ansyar, the
former head of Jakarta Police Traffic Control.
He vowed to take stringent measures against traffic violators
in an effort to reduce the growing number of traffic accidents.
"Our investigation revealed that most of the accidents were
caused by reckless driving," Ansyar said.
An accident claimed 35 lives and injured dozens on Sept. 13 on
the Cakung-Cikunir toll road, when a speeding intercity bus tried
to overtake a fuel truck and crashed head-on into a dump truck.
Last year, 31 passengers on an intercity bus burned to death
when their air-condition vehicle turned into an inferno after
smashing into three cars stopped on the shoulder of the Jagorawi
toll road.
Condemned
President Soeharto condemned the driver on Thursday for
recklessness and urged that firm measures be taken against all
traffic violators.
"There's no place on the road for reckless drivers," said
Soeharto.
The bus driver, Riyadi Mulyono, was decapitated in the
accident.
It has been proven that Riyadi was not only speeding, but was
also intoxicated.
If the final investigation shows that Riyadi was totally to
blame for the accident, the police will close the case, according
to Ansyar.
"In that case, no one could be charged with an offense because
the main suspect, Riyadi, is dead," Ansyar reiterated.
He regretted that drunk driving had yet to be recognized as a
crime here.
"It would be good if we could impose stern punishment on
reckless drivers, especially drunk drivers. But, we cannot do
much because we don't have a regulation which particularly
applies to drunk driving," he said.
He called on the public and legislators to recognize the
importance of having regulations to deal harshly with reckless
drivers.
"So far, the public's response to regulations with penalties
has not been that supportive. For instance, they have strongly
protested the 1992 Traffic Law Number 14 just because they don't
agree to the tougher penalties," Ansyar said.
Police have made various efforts, including advertising new
regulations and conducting routine raids on city streets, to
develop public awareness on road safety and courteous driving, he
said.
However, many people have yet to learn from other's misfortune
and are still caught exceeding the maximum speed of 100
kilometers per hour on the Jagorawi toll road.
State-owned toll road management company PT Jasamarga and the
City Police joined forces in setting up speed traps and ticketing
violators on the Jagorawi toll road a day after the Cikunir crash
took place.
At least 16 drivers were fined Monday and 35 on Tuesday.
Data from Jasamarga shows that at least 157 traffic accidents
occurred on the Jagorawi toll road in the first eight months of
this year.
The data also reveals that the cause of most accidents was
recklessness or tiredness. (cst)