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Road safety issue hinders goal of bike-friendly city
Puput Soedarjanto from urban cycling community Bike2work said that according to data compiled by the group, at least 16 cyclists died so far this year in traffic accidents in several cities in the country while another 15 cyclists were hospitalized.
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Jakarta Police officers and Jakarta Transportation Agency personnel stop a motorcyclist using a designated cycle lane in Fatmawati in South Jakarta on Tuesday. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
“Julie was a really happy girl. She was killed right here,” Brazilian cycling activist Aline Calvacante points to the outline of a cyclist on Sao Paulo’s main street Avenida Paulista in a scene from 2015 Swedish documentary Bikes vs Cars.
The symbol is a way of personifying the death of Juliana Dias, a 33-year-old cyclist who was killed in a traffic incident involving a bus in 2011.
The documentary highlights the most important issue faced by cyclists in a city with notorious traffic: safety.
The concerns are shared by many cyclists in many cities around the world including cities in Indonesia and particularly the capital city Jakarta.
Puput Soedarjanto from urban cycling community Bike2work said that according to data compiled by the group, at least 16 cyclists died so far this year in traffic accidents in several cities in the country while another 15 cyclists were hospitalized. He did not provide detailed data for incidents in Jakarta.
“It indicates that our roads are not safe enough for cyclists,” he said during a recent discussion after a Bikes vs Cars screening at City Hall in Central Jakarta.
Agus Priana, who regularly cycles the 1.5-hour journey from his house in Tangerang, Banten, to his workplace in Kuningan, South Jakarta, said his main concern was safety.
