T

he Jakarta Police will kick off a two-week traffic operation called “Operasi Patuh Jaya 2011” beginning on July 11, in an attempt to improve motorists’ discipline and ensure that this year’s road fatality rate is less than last year’s rate of three fatalities a day.

The Jakarta Police’s regional supervisory inspector Sr. Comr. Moer Ali told reporters on Friday that traffic congestion problems in the city were mostly caused by public transportation vehicles and motorcycles.

He said that in the first half of 2011 there had been 88,214 traffic violations and 427 accidents involving public transportation vehicles, and 362,056 violations and 3,133 accidents involving motorcycles.

“The operation will deal with traffic violators like private vehicles and public transit drivers, motorcyclists, jaywalkers, street vendors, beggars, vagrants, and street side parking attendants,” he said.

Jakarta Transportation Agency data showed that 320 of the 1,642 buses in the city impounded for traffic violations in 2010 were not roadworthy. The police also issued 333 tickets to bus drivers for reckless driving last year.

As of Jan. 11 this year, the agency had banned 35 buses from operating and fined 10 drivers. The agency said it planned to continue its crack-down because 8,428 of the 11,091 buses in the capital had not passed the required vehicle standard test.

The Jakarta Police traffic directorate had issued tickets worth a total Rp 9,097,634,700 (US$1.074 million) in 450,495 traffic violation cases as of May this year. As of May, 3,288 traffic accidents claiming 487 lives had occurred.

According to the directorate’s data, in the last six years, 2009 was the year with the most traffic violations, with 737,426 violations involving Rp 11,559,209,200 in fines.

However, 2010 saw the highest number of traffic accidents, with 8,235 accidents claiming 1,048 lives.

Jakarta Police operational division head Sr. Comr. Sujarno told reporters, “We will treat all motorists equally, including those with governmental logos on their plates,” he said.

The Jakarta Police traffic division Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa said that the average rate of traffic-related deaths in Jakarta in 2010 was three fatalities per day. (msa)