The police buckle down and drivers buckle up
Evi Mariani, Jakarta
The Jakarta Police announced that more drivers are wearing their seat belts since the police began enforcing the seat belt law on May 5.
That conclusion came from daily reports from traffic police officers deployed throughout the capital and the number of tickets issued by the police to drivers for not buckling up.
City police traffic division head Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Ishak said on Friday there was a significant decrease in the number of tickets being issued for seat belt violations.
"We have being using the same level of law enforcement since the mandatory wearing of seat belts began on Wednesday, but we have ticketed fewer violators each day," he said.
The police issued 235 tickets on the first day of the enforcement, 115 tickets on Thursday and 45 tickets on Friday.
Most of these tickets were issued by police officers stationed at four spots along the city's main thoroughfares: Jl. Gatot Subroto near the House of Representatives in Senayan, Central Jakarta; Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta; Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta; and Jl. Sudirman near the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Sulistyo, however, acknowledged that low number of tickets issued for seat belt violations on Friday may have been influenced by the busy schedule of traffic police officers during the day.
"We had numerous state ceremonies today (Friday), including the arrival of state guests from New Zealand," he said. "Therefore, many officers were not concentrated on traffic violations as we had to guide traffic for the state guests."
The police have also been active in warning drivers whose vehicles are not yet equipped with seat belts.
"We have encouraged them to immediately install seat belts and not wait until the Nov. 5, 2005, deadline to do so," Sulistyo said.
The police warned 270 drivers on Wednesday, 414 drivers on Thursday and 319 drivers on Friday about having seat belts installed in their vehicles.
Because the goal of the law requiring the wearing of seat belts is to increase drivers' awareness of safety issues, the police have been lenient with non-compliers.
Law No. 14/1992 on traffic stipulates that drivers and front- seat passengers are required to wear seat belts. Violators could face a maximum fine of Rp 1 million (US$115.60) or a month in prison.
Studies in countries like New Zealand, Germany, Japan and Britain have found that wearing seat belts helps reduce fatal traffic accidents by up to 40 percent.
Police have said that about 80 percent of drivers have been wearing their seat belts over the last three days.