Traffic Police Dismiss Rp250,000 Fine for Bald Tyres as Hoax

The Head of the Traffic Corps (Kakorlantas) of the Indonesian National Police, Inspector General Wibowo, has confirmed that information circulating on social media regarding the imposition of a Rp250,000 fine and a one-month prison threat for motorcyclists using bald tyres is a hoax. “That information is a hoax,” Wibowo said when confirmed on Thursday (23/7). Wibowo explained that Article 48 paragraph 1 and Article 285 paragraph 1 of Law Number 22 of 2009 on Road Traffic and Transportation (LLAJ) do regulate vehicles that do not meet technical and roadworthiness requirements. Article 48 paragraph 1 of the LLAJ Law stipulates that every motorised vehicle operated on the road must meet technical and roadworthiness requirements. Meanwhile, Article 285 paragraph 1 of the LLAJ Law stipulates that any person driving a motorised vehicle on the road that does not meet technical and roadworthiness requirements shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of one month or a maximum fine of Rp250,000. “The sanction of a Rp250,000 fine and one-month imprisonment is not a new regulation and is not only for bald tyres,” Wibowo stated. Wibowo said the sanction is a long-standing provision in the LLAJ Law for vehicles that do not meet technical and roadworthiness requirements. “Bald tyres can be subject to sanctions because they endanger traffic safety and constitute a violation of vehicle technical requirements,” he said. Wibowo stressed that the provision is not a new rule, but an obligation that must be observed. He noted that provisions regarding tyres on motorised vehicles are also regulated in Government Regulation Number 55 of 2012, which states that the tread depth of a tyre must not be less than one millimetre. “The Rp250,000 fine and one-month imprisonment represent the maximum penalty threat, not an automatic tariff. It is incorrect to call it a new policy recently implemented by the Police,” Wibowo said.