Transportation Expert: ALS Deadly Tragedy a Portrait of Systemic Failure

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The fatal incident involving an Antar Lintas Sumatera (ALS) bus and a fuel tanker truck on the Trans-Sumatra Highway (Jalinsum) in North Musi Rawas on Wednesday (6/5/2026) is a tragedy that claimed 18 lives. This tragedy serves as a stark portrait of the collapse of the oversight system and the degradation of the state’s financial commitment to public safety. Amid claims of infrastructure modernisation, Indonesia’s highways remain a battlefield that mercilessly consumes productive lives. Academic from the Civil Engineering Programme at Unika Soegijapranata and Advisory Board Member of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), Djoko Setijowarno, emphasised that this tragedy represents Indonesia’s systemic failure, with the status of a “Road Transport Safety Emergency”. Reforms must not stop at ceremonial technical investigations by the KNKT. No matter how sophisticated the investigation, it will be futile without strengthening institutions and assured budgets. “Cutting operational safety allocations in the Ministry of Transportation is a form of constitutional neglect of public lives,” Djoko stated firmly in his comments to Kompas.com on Sunday (10/5/2026). Data from the National Traffic Corps of the Police (Korlantas Polri) and PT Jasa Raharja reveals that the road accident fatality rate now exceeds 100 lives per day. Ironically, more than 70 percent of victims are individuals in their prime productive years, aged 11 to 55. The student and university student group (11–25 years) dominates strikingly, contributing 40 percent of the total death toll. Infrastructure variables contribute 30 percent, while vehicle technical problems account for 9 percent. These figures are a warning that government interventions must not focus solely on road paving but must extend to purifying discipline and absolute standardisation of driver competence. One important instrument to mitigate risks is the Public Transport Safety Management System (SMK-PAU) as regulated in Minister of Transportation Regulation (Permenhub) Number 85 of 2018. Theoretically, this system encompasses 10 fundamental elements, from hazard management to enhancing personal competence.