Motorcycle rules make roads safer

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 01/16/2007 4:13 PM  |  Jakarta

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police say that since last week's implementation of the keep-left rule for motorcycles along main thoroughfares in the city, there have been zero accidents involving motorbikes on those streets.

The head of law enforcement at the Jakarta Police Traffic Directorate, Sr. Adj. Comr. Tomex Korniawan, said these main thoroughfares had seen no accidents involving motorbikes since police got tough on motorcyclists by obliging them to drive in the left lane.

He said that from Nov. 4 to Dec. 3, before the enforcement of the keep-left rule for motorcycles, there were 29 accidents reported on the streets were the rule is applied. That number dropped by 27.5 percent to 21 accidents during an introduction period for the rule, from Dec. 4 to Jan. 7.

""Since Jan. 8, there have been no accidents,"" Tomex said.

Police began ticketing violators of the keep-left rule on Jan. 8.

Under the new rule, motorcycles must stay in the left lane on a number of main streets in the city. These streets are: Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. Warung Buncit in South Jakarta; Jl. S. Parman in West Jakarta; Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan and Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta; Jl. R. Suprapto in Central Jakarta; and Jl. DI Panjaitan, Jl. Pramuka and Jl. Mayjen Sutoyo in East Jakarta.

The left-lane rule also applies along two streets just outside the city: Jl. A. Yani in Bekasi and Jl. Raya Margonda in Depok.

Police have issued almost 2,000 tickets to motorcyclists for violating the new rule in less than a week.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman said the drop in the number of accidents was clear proof of the effectiveness of the regulation.

Tomex of the Traffic Directorate said that to support the rule, the Jakarta Transportation Agency needed to put up permanent signs along the roads to warn motorcyclists to stay to the left.

Currently, road signs are still lacking on most of the affected streets. Motorcyclists have complained about this lack of road signs.

Motorcyclists also have complained that there are sometimes orange road cones along the streets to mark the left lane and sometimes not, leading to confusion about where the rule is in effect.

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