TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Govt wants to halve traffic fatalities

The government says its new plan will improve road infrastructure and halve the number of people killed in traffic accidents by 2020

Tifa Asrianti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, July 12, 2011

Share This Article

Change Size

Govt wants to halve traffic fatalities

T

he government says its new plan will improve road infrastructure and halve the number of people killed in traffic accidents by 2020.

According to the National Police, 31,234 people died in traffic accidents in 2010, or more than three deaths an hour.

Estimates of the financial costs due to traffic accidents in Indonesia in 2010 ranged from Rp 203 trillion (US$23.75 billion) to Rp 217 trillion, or about 3.1 percent of the national GDP.

Bambang Prihartono, the National Planning Development Board’s transportation director, said that the government planned to reduce the number of traffic deaths by 50 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2035.

“We also plan to reach a fatality index of 0.79 per 10,000 vehicles by 2035,” Bambang said.

The government wanted to reduce the traffic accident death rate to 2.63 per 100,000 people by 2035, down from 13.15 in 2010, he added.

The road safety program will be coordinated by the National Planning Development Board and involve the Public Works Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, National Education Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Communications and Information Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Research and Technology Ministry, the Industry Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the National Police.

The program is divided into a ten-year plan, covering 2011 to 2020, and a 25-year plan, spanning 2011
to 2035.

Bambang said plan would be authorized by a presidential decree or instruction. Working groups would draft detailed implementation plans and there would be familiarization programs at the provincial and regency level, he added.

“We also need to report to the land transport working group forum or multi-sector road safety special working forum within regional or international forums such as APEC, ASEAN and UNESCAP,” he said.

Haris Batubara, toll road director at the Public Works Ministry, said that his office would oversee road safety infrastructure through a series of five-year plans.

The program’s first five years calls for a reduction in the number of traffic accidents followed by developing self-explanatory and self-enforcing aspects of road infrastructure in compliance with the second five-year plan.

The plan then calls for the development of roads based on more forgiving road principles and an improved road safety network.

In the final stage, the plans calls for completing the infrastructure for a standard road safety network.

“Our program involves actions such as repairing potholes and inspecting the safety of the road. We will also control the function of roadside areas and improve the condition of road shoulders,” he said.

Ekowati Rahajeng, noncommunicable disease control director at the Health Ministry, said that under the plan her office would monitor fatalities and injuries and encourage drivers to get regular health check ups.

“We will also prepare a referral system for traffic accident victims to reduce the fatality rate, support insurance for accident victims and encourage local administrations and society to actively engage in this program,” she said.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.