Road Safety Emergency: ALS Tragedy Serves as a Loud Alarm

JAKARTA – The fatal accident between an Antar Lintas Sumatera (ALS) bus and a fuel tanker truck on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in North Musi Rawas Regency, South Sumatra, has once again drawn attention to the state of road transport safety in Indonesia. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday (6/5/2026), killed 18 people, comprising 16 bus passengers and two from the tanker truck side. A transportation expert and academic described the event as evidence that Indonesia is facing a “road transport safety emergency”. “The ‘Road Transport Safety Emergency’ in Indonesia is a systemic issue triggered by an accumulation of various factors, from weak regulatory oversight to road user behaviour and slashed budgets,” Djoko told Kompas.com on Sunday (10/5/2026). According to him, the Trans-Sumatra tragedy must serve as a serious momentum to comprehensively reform the land transport safety system, rather than just momentary responses after major accidents. That investigation needs to dissect the causes of the accident from various aspects, starting from human factors, vehicle conditions, company management, to road infrastructure. However, he warned that the investigation will not have a significant impact if it is not followed by strengthening institutions and adequate budget support. Djoko also highlighted the importance of reviving the Road Safety Directorate under the Directorate General of Land Transport. In his view, the existence of a special road safety institution is needed so that accident evaluations do not stop at merely finding causes, but produce systemic improvements to prevent similar incidents from recurring. Based on the data he provided, 61 percent of accidents are triggered by human factors, both due to low skills and risky driving behaviour. Meanwhile, infrastructure and environmental factors contribute 30 percent to accident causes, while vehicle technical issues stand at 9 percent.