T

he result of a two-week-operation conducted by traffic police across Greater Jakarta vindicates the public'€™s complaints about rampant reckless driving in the capital and its surrounding cities.

During the operation, code-named Zebra, between Nov. 26 and Dec. 9, the traffic police ticketed 80,960 road users for various traffic violations.

Lack of discipline on the part of road users is an acute problem, which the city administration and other local authorities across the country have been unable to address. But there is no reason to give up; failure to comply with traffic rules not only endangers drivers and other road users, but also contributes to traffic chaos, particularly in Greater Jakarta.

Traffic congestion in many parts of Greater Jakarta should be partly blamed on public transportation drivers, who stop at will to wait for passengers, blocking other vehicles.

The City Metropolitan Police, whose working zone covers Jakarta, Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang, recorded more than 100,000 traffic accidents in 2013, killing 616 road users. According to police data, the number of motorized vehicles stood at 16.04 million last year and is expected to increase this year.

But reckless driving is a complex issue that cannot be solved only through a seasonal measure like Operation Zebra. It is a matter of behavioral change requiring consistent and long-term efforts. Such an operation, therefore, should be followed by strict enforcement of traffic regulations, in which the police show zero tolerance to traffic violators, including underage motorists.

Only consistent, indiscriminate law enforcement will force motorists to abide by the existing regulations.

However, before the police can enforce the traffic law, internal efforts within the force are needed to improve discipline among the officers. We cannot turn a blind eye to rampant bribery practices involving police on the street. There have been reports of police officers who sacrifice their integrity to accept money from traffic offenders wishing to avoid a ticket.

Internal reform within the police will erode public misperceptions of the force. Integrity on the part of law enforcers matters if the law is to be enforceable.

Meanwhile, undisciplined driving among public transportation drivers also needs to be given special attention by the city authorities. It has been long believed that the absence of a fixed income among public transportation drivers is the reason for the reckless driving, because they are thus forced to collect as much money as possible for their employer and themselves. The more money they collect, the bigger their share.

We therefore welcome the Jakarta administration'€™s plan to introduce a fixed payment system for all public transportation drivers. The system has already been implemented by Transjakarta management.

However, it is not fair to only blame the police and other authorities for continued bad driving. The people'€™s awareness of the importance of proper driving is key to minimizing unnecessary deaths on the roads. We all bear the responsibility of reminding others to respect traffic regulations, or at least ourselves refrain from breaking traffic laws.