Traffic deaths

Traffic deaths

The death of 35 people in a Jakarta highway accident is still
fresh in people's minds as Indonesia marks today its annual
National Traffic Day.

Though only one in a series of serious road accidents in the
country during the past few years, the latest collision has
attracted the attention of officials in the highest levels of
government, including President Soeharto.

On that fateful Sunday evening (Sept. 14), an intercity bus
traveling from Jakarta and loaded with passengers was reportedly
speeding along the Cakung-Cikunir highway toward Purwodadi in
Central Java.

But it was slowed down by a gasoline truck which was traveling
at a lower speed in the same direction. While trying to overtake
the gas truck -- still driving at high speed -- the bus driver
veered the vehicle directly into the path of an oncoming dump
truck.

A head-on collision was unavoidable. Twenty-nine bus
passengers died on impact, six died later and 12 others were
hospitalized for treatment. Some of those who died on the spot,
including the bus driver, had limbs or body parts severed.

In terms of casualties, the Cikunir accident was the worst to
occur in or near Jakarta in the past three years.

In March 1994, a reckless minibus driver steered his
overcrowded vehicle into the Sunter River in North Jakarta,
killing 33 passengers and injuring dozens of others.

In March last year, 31 people were killed and dozens of others
were seriously injured when a speeding intercity bus became an
inferno after slamming into three cars parked on the shoulder of
the Jagorawi tollway.

Traumatic as they may be, these bus accidents were only a
minuscule part of the total number of accidents happening every
day.

Any person who commutes to and from work each day in Jakarta
knows that road accidents are almost daily occurrences. Most
accidents are, fortunately, of a relatively minor nature.

But, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of
Transportation, about 30 people die in road accidents every day.
Police surveys reveal that most of these accidents are caused by
reckless or incompetent driving.

Certainly, President Soeharto's call for greater road safety
and his remark that there is "no place in this country for
reckless drivers" has the support of everyone.

The problem -- now that no less a person than President
Soeharto himself has publicly and explicitly expressed his
concern over the situation -- is how to start bringing order to
an already near-chaotic traffic situation.

Flawed as it may be, the present traffic law -- remember the
public controversy during the draft's debate in the House of
Representatives -- should provide adequate deterrents for
reckless drivers and traffic delinquents. The problem is
enforcement.

At this point, it is worth noting the public's complaint that
some police officers on duty all too often prefer to deal with
offenders "on the spot" by accepting payoffs. Sadly, this is an
existing reality that few people can deny.

But blaming officers on duty not only does not solve the
problem, it is clearly unfair. It tends to smear all police
officers and disregards the fact that the public is equally to
blame for this situation. As in any transaction, it takes two to
conclude a deal.

As we see it, many of our social problems -- traffic included
-- are rooted in a declining sense of discipline. Better
supervision helps. But here, as in so many other cases, education
will go a long way toward ensuring that regulations are obeyed,
even when nobody is around to censure us.