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.