Skepticism reigns over looming seat belt plan

The 1992 Traffic Law that makes seat belts compulsory for motorists will take effect on Sept. 17 in Jakarta. The Jakarta Post reporters Ida Indawati Khouw, Budiman Moerdijat, Sugianto Tandra, Benget Simbolon, Reiner Simanjuntak, Devi M. Asmarani, Primastuti Handayani and photographer P.J. Leo report on the preparations of, and the public's reactions to, the plan.

JAKARTA (JP): For Rudy, the government's dead serious plan to enforce a traffic law next week that requires motorists to put on a seat belt while traveling in the city sounds like a joke.

Rudy, an employee of a private company in Central Jakarta, recalled that soon after it was passed, Law No. 14/1992 was fiercely rejected by the public. The government succumbed to public pressure to implement it in phases.

"I won't take it seriously. The government may cancel it again, like it did in 1993," said Rudy, who travels to his office on Jl. Thamrin in a 1985 sedan.

And like many Indonesians, he hates wearing a seat belt, even though he knows only too well that seat belts are standard equipment for safe driving.

The government has information campaigns targeting motorists who do not care to use the belt. In some thoroughfares, police officers occasionally stop motorists for a brief lecture on why they should buckle up.

One policewoman was seen having a difficult time last week on a busy Jakarta street pulling at an unused seat belt in an old van and teaching the driver how to use it.

Drivers whose vehicles do not have seat belts are being given a two-year grace period to install them.

For people from countries where seat belts are a legal requirement, Indonesians' rejection to protect themselves with seat belts while driving may sound strange.

"People just don't really care about safe driving," said Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang, spokesman for Jakarta Police.

Observers have noted that people's reluctance to use a seat belt while driving is comparable to the time when the government made helmets compulsory for motorcyclists in the 1980s. Only after years of persuasion, followed by legal action against offenders, did the road-safety campaign "succeed".

They said the fact that motorcyclists put on helmets only when riding on major streets revealed the general perception that people wear them because the law requires them to do so, rather than because they believe the safety equipment would protect their head in an accident. The same thing is believed to be the case with the use of seat belts.

According to Law No. 14/1992, a motorist failing to wear a seat belt is subject to a maximum jail term of one month and/or a fine of Rp 1 million.

The law also prescribes, among other things, a Rp 6 million fine for motorists driving without a license and Rp 2 million for those not carrying a car's registration documents.

The hefty punishments, forged to better road safety, sparked public protests that forced the government to postpone the enforcement of the law in 1993.

Jakarta Police said that traffic accidents claim about 10,000 lives every year, which prompted the government to tighten traffic regulations.

The law also requires that cars be insured and that they have gas emission levels checked regularly, two regulations also yet to be fully enforced.

The regulation for public transportation vehicles to shut their doors while on the move has also gone largely unheeded.

The imminent enforcement of the seat belt rule has not impressed auto parts traders, who doubt it will really be effective.

"We don't expect the belt business to boom," said Shinta, an auto accessory trader in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta.

"I learned from my experience in 1992, when we imported many seat belts but then the government canceled the policy and no one bought them."

Yati, an auto parts shop employee, said that although the seat belt ruling was a good idea, the enforcement timing was inappropriate.

"Who will really care about buying seat belts in this time of economic crisis?" she asked.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation is also concerned about the timing, proposing that people should be given another five years due to the crisis.

"Until then, people should be gradually conditioned to wearing seat belts," said Tini Hadad, the foundation's chairwoman.

Unlike the plan to fully enforce the law in 1993, the seat belt campaign this time round has not met with harsh reactions, such as street demonstrations.

Critics have said that the stiff penalties would only worsen extortion by corrupt police officers.

Aritonang has reiterated that getting money from offenders is not an issue in the seat belt regulation.

"Our mission is to educate people on safe driving," he said. "This time, we will adopt a persuasive approach because the target is to improve people's awareness (on using seat belts)."

Aritonang vowed the police is "dead serious" about making the seat belt campaign a success.

Observers have said that what the government needs is consistency in enforcing the rule, so that the 1993 debacle would not be repeated.

"If they (the government) fail again, I'm afraid people will never again take the law seriously," said Gary, an employee. (team)