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Overload, fatigue main factors in truck accidents
According to the Jakarta Police there were 243 truck accidents in Greater Jakarta last year, accounting for 4.11 percent of the 4,286 traffic accidents in the area. Meanwhile, a 2017 study of state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga revealed that 64 percent of accidents on highways involved freight trucks.
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A truck overturned after hitting six kiosks in South Tangerang in this file photo. (wartakota.tribunnews.com/Zaki Ari Setiawan)
F
atal accidents involving trucks in Tangerang, Banten, late in July and another one that occurred a week later have put a spotlight on the lack of safety measures regarding freight trucks that are the backbone of trade and development in the country.
The first accident occurred on July 31, which saw a car crushed flat after a soil-loaded truck fell on it, killing four people, namely Edy, the app-based taxi driver, and passengers Wandi, Nanda and Fatmawati. The fourth passenger, Fatmawati’s 1-year-old daughter, survived the accident.
The police later declared the case as one of negligence and named the truck driver a suspect.
Meanwhile, no casualties were reported in the second incident that occurred on Aug. 6 where a white minivan was left severely damaged after it collided with a truck loaded with hebel blocks on Jl. Raya Pembangunan Tiga in Neglasari, Tangerang, Banten.
The two accidents have raised concerns about the danger of freight trucks as they evidently pose a threat to other vehicles on the road.
Juliana Ekaputri, a motorcyclist from West Jakarta, said she was getting more worried about riding her bike around trucks after learning about the accidents.
“Riding my motorcycle next to trucks makes me very uncomfortable. They are slow and difficult to overtake, while their engines are noisy,” she told The Jakarta Post.
