The art of trafficking in Jakarta

The art of trafficking in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever noticed how Indonesia often gets
on the wrong Top 10 lists? We seem to get elected, nominated or
defaulted into the Most Polluted Cities, Most Corrupt Countries
and most recently into Reader's Digest's list of "Asia's Worst
Drivers".

According to this survey, we were the No. 4 worst drivers out
of 11 countries. The survey looked at statistical measures such
as fatalities per 100,000 vehicles (apparently people are nearly
100 times more likely to die on the road in India than in Japan),
as well as field research, including discussions with police
officers, bus drivers, driving instructors and safety experts.

Anyway, on this list we were behind China, India and Korea,
(don't you get a perverse feeling of relief that at least we
aren't the worst -- let's close the files quickly and move on!),
and ahead of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Taiwan and, the safest of us all, Japan.

One of the Indonesians interviewed for this report declared
that "many of my foreign friends refuse to drive on the roads
here. They are too scared, but Indonesians are used to it".

For the sake of intercultural harmony and to bridge the
apparent perception gap between the foreign community and the
local driving society, allow me to present a different angle on
this issue.

One of the reasons that foreigners are often puzzled by the
way Indonesians drive is the fact that, although we are known as
basically warm and nice people, when it comes to driving we tend
to change lanes, cut in front of cars or wiggle in and out of
traffic with an attitude that seems to contradict our basic
respectful nature.

Well, I think an explanation can be found in the different
paradigms, or perceptions, in Western countries and in Indonesia
about what one is supposed to do when driving.

When you learn to drive in most Western countries, the first
rule that you are reminded of over and over again is to always
"make a gap" between your car and the car in front of you. So if
you are driving at a speed of 40 miles per hour you should make
sure you have at least a 4 car length gap between you and the car
in front of you. If you drive faster the gap should be enlarged
by about 1 car length for every 10 miles per hour, and vice versa
if you slow down. Let's call this the "make a gap" paradigm.

Take the average Indonesian driver -- myself for example. I
learned to drive by "filling in the gap". I went to the police
station to take my multiple-choice exam, donated blood to the Red
Cross, happily did my driving test and went home knowing I would
get my license in a few days.

During this entire process I can't ever recall hearing "make a
gap" being mentioned specifically -- maybe in passing or in an
indirect way like "don't get too close" -- but never purposely
and definitely never repeatedly.

So, I got my driving license and merrily drove into the
streets with "don't get too close" as my basic reference. After a
while I also learned that although I needed to remember "don't
get too close", I should also make sure that I "don't get too
far" because I discovered that if I got too far from the car
ahead of me another driver would conveniently "fill the gap" I
had created. Aha! Here's the problem with the expatriate
community!

Whereas expatriates drive with a "make a gap" paradigm, we
locals see it as a friendly invitation to "fill the gap". So, you
see, we're only being kind and obliging when we "fill the gap"
that was created, and have no reckless intention to cut you off!
"Make a gap" meets "Fill the gap".

The other item that was mentioned in the Readers' Digest
article was that the "most dangerous drivers are the ones who get
paid to shuttle the public". You know, the bus driver that kind
of slows down in the middle of the street to let a passenger out,
or the mikrolet cabby who abruptly swerves to the side of the
road to pick up a waving prospective passenger.

Now, it is interesting to observe that these public transport
drivers can be seen as "public enemies No. 1" or "customer
service providers No. 1", depending on your point of view. After
all, where else can you get that kind of service? Think of it as
the ultimate "Pick Up and Delivery, Anytime and Anywhere"
service. Even global companies like Federal Express, DHL or TNT,
would be proud to have this sort of standard.

So the next time you drive, make sure that you "don't get too
close" and yet "don't get too far" because if you "make a gap"
that means you are inviting someone to "fill the gap". And if you
see those quirky public transport drivers, think of them as
customer service heroes meeting the expectations of their
customers.

Pretty straight forward don't you think? Those guys at
Readers' Digest did not get the whole picture. We shouldn't be on
the list of "Worst Drivers" but the "Most Obliging and Customer
Friendly Drivers". OK, drive carefully and I'll see you on the
road!

-- Bernardus Djonoputro