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Finding shelter: Motorcyclists told to vacate overpasses, even during pouring rain
To avoid misinterpretation of the law, Fahri made it clear that a stop of a few minutes on a street under an overpass to don raincoats was permitted, but added that vehicles should not violate no-parking signs.
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Motorcyclists take shelter under the Slipi Kemanggisan overpass in Jakarta during a downpour on Feb. 14. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan )
H
eavy rainfall, waterlogged streets and traffic bottlenecks give severe headaches to anyone commuting around the city in this rainy season. To avoid getting drenched in a downpour or driving into potholes hidden by water, some motorcyclists prefer to take shelter to wait out the rain.
Motorcyclists commonly take shelter under overpasses during heavy rains, blocking some of the street lanes and creating traffic jams.
In order to prevent motorcyclists from parking under overpasses during a rainfall, the Jakarta administration is reminding people of the prevailing traffic regulations through its Instagram account, @dkijakarta.
“Stopping on the road under an overpass is a traffic violation as there are traffic signs that mark them as no-stopping areas,” the chief of the Jakarta Police's traffic law enforcement center (Gakkum), Adj. Sr. Comr. Siregar, told The Jakarta Post via text message.
According to Article 106(4) of Law No. 22/2009 on traffic and land transportation, all commuters are obliged to follow traffic rules, road marks, traffic signs, traffic directions, stopping and parking rules and road warnings. The rules on stopping and parking are further mentioned in Article 118, which says that vehicles are not allowed to stop in areas with no-stopping signs, toll roads and any places that do not meet traffic safety and potentially disturb traffic flow.
The law, through Article 287(3), also sets a fine of Rp 250,000 (US$18.10) or a month in jail for anyone convicted of not following the rules.
According to Fahri, motorcyclists charged with stopping in lanes under overpasses, potentially creating traffic bottlenecks, could be charged under subsections 1 and/or 3 of that Article 287 and receive two months in jail or a maximum fine of Rp 500,000 of convicted of violating traffic signs and road markings.
