Jakarta’s deserted roads during the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri do not guarantee that the roads are free from accidents.

The latest accident claimed the life of coal miner PT Adaro Energy's corporate affairs director Andre Mamuaya, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Andre was allegedly speeding on his Ducati motorbike at 9:45 a.m. when a Kijang Innova van tried to turn left, according to the Jakarta Police’s law enforcement sub-directorate chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudarmanto.

“The van was about to turn left to enter the Plaza Central building, and its driver claimed to have turned on an indicator to do so. But Andre attempted to overtake it,” Sudarmanto said.

Andre, who was also a motorcycle racer, allegedly made an error in judgment in overtaking the Innova, and hit the bumper. He was allegedly thrown from his bike and hit his head on the pavement.

Though Andre was rushed to Siloam Semanggi Hospital soon after the incident, he died at 12:30 p.m. from internal bleeding.

Andre’s body will be laid to rest at the San Diego Hills cemetery in Karawang, West Java, on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife and his two children — a 9-year-old and an 8-year-old.

Nico Siahaan, a television presenter and good friend of the deceased, said that Andre always loved to roam the city with his motorcycle on his days off. “Today [Tuesday] was also his day off, and he took the chance to go around the city as usual with his circle of friends who share the same hobby of riding big bikes,” Nico said at the hospital.

Andre was not the only one who loved to race in the empty streets of Jakarta during the holiday, despite the risks. The vacant roads left by Jakartans who celebrate the holiday in their hometowns lure people to speed.

Data from the Jakarta traffic police shows that the city saw 15 traffic accidents from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21,
resulting in the deaths of four people, with five people sustaining major injuries, and 17 sustaining minor injuries. Ten of these accidents involved motorcycles.

The vast and empty roads of Jakarta also encouraged James Wijaya to drive recklessly, causing his van to fall into a pool of water at the Bank Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

According to a police report, James was speeding in his Ford Fiesta from Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan to Jl. Thamrin before losing control, which caused his vehicle to plunge into the pool under a horse statue at 00:15 a.m.

The annual Idul Fitri holiday has long been marked with high numbers of traffic accidents, both in the capital with empty roads, and along the roads used by homebound travelers on their annual exodus.

The National Police have disclosed that during the period between Aug. 11 and Aug. 20 alone, at least 529 people had been killed in 3,452 traffic accidents across the nation, according to kompas.com.

Aside from fatalities, the large number of traffic accidents had also caused material losses estimated at Rp 5.48 billion (US$575,400), according to the police. (aml)

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