Speeding cars kills 3 pedestrians

Speeding cars kills 3 pedestrians

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A mechanic ran over three people who were waiting for a bus on
the sidewalk on Jl. Kartini in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on
Tuesday. Two of them died instantly, while the other one died
later in hospital.

Rois Syahroni, 24, who is currently being detained at the
Cilandak Police Station, admitted that the Volvo sedan he was
driving belonged to a customer of the car workshop in Pamulang,
Tangerang where he worked.

The sedan was still under repair.

Rois took fellow mechanics Wahid and Ugan and Ugan's two-year-
old son for a picnic at Ragunan Zoo, several kilometers from
where the fatal accident took place.

"I turned the wheel sharply to the left when the car was hit
by a passing bicycle. I tried to stop the car but the brakes were
not working ... I could not control the car," Rois told
reporters.

The speeding sedan crashed into a tree and went up onto the
sidewalk where the three people were standing. Still unable to
stop, the car crashed into a large pot, a kiosk and finally
stopped in the gutter.

The cyclist and the kiosk owner were reportedly unharmed as
well as all three passengers in the sedan.

Parwanti, 31, an employee of an apparel store in Taman Anggrek
shopping mall, West Jakarta, and Halomoan Sidabutar, 34, a civil
servant at the Ministry of Defense, died instantly.

Meanwhile, Sutarmin, 35, Sidabutar's colleague at the
ministry, died in Fatmawati Hospital, South Jakarta, five hours
after the crash.

Sutarmin and Sidabutar had just left their office in Pondok
Labu after attending the Independence Day ceremony, when the blue
Volvo 240 with license plate number B 2623 HT crashed into them.

Head of Cilandak Traffic Police, First Insp. Yasir, said the
case had been transferred to the South Jakarta Police for further
investigation.

He added that the suspect would also be moved to the South
Jakarta detention center.

The Volvo is now being kept at the South Jakarta Police
Station as evidence in the case.