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Experts urge government to put the brakes on motorcycles amid high accident rate
According to the 2019 Book of Traffic Portraits in Indonesia, 73.49 percent of a total of 196,457 traffic accidents identified in 2018 involved motorbikes — a far greater ratio than accidents involving other types of vehicles.
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This image shows an illustration of motorcycle accident on the road. (Shutterstock.com/File)
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or most Jakartans, motorcycles are a convenient way to travel. They are affordable, low maintenance costs and have the ability to maneuver the capital’s infamous traffic congestions. But according to the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), motorcyclists are the most at-risk road users.
“It’s like a love-hate relationship. I think many Jakartans know that motorbikes are causing severe traffic jams and are prone to accidents, but we go back to riding them again and again for practical reasons,” university student Akbar Triputra told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old said it was more convenient for him to travel around the city by motorcycle because many of the areas he went to were not supported by adequate modes of public transportation.
“Since starting university, I have been bumped into by other riders and fallen twice. But still, riding a motorbike is much better than jumping from a bus to an angkot [public minivan] just to reach a cousin’s house in North Jakarta,” he said.
The MTI recently reported that over the past 10 years, the number of traffic accidents involving motorbikes has been steadily high, adding that the government had not adequately addressed the problem.
According to the 2019 Book of Traffic Portraits in Indonesia, 73.49 percent of a total of 196,457 traffic accidents identified in 2018 involved motorbikes — a far greater ratio than accidents involving other types of vehicles.
The book also reported that more than 95 percent of the accidents recorded in the period of 2015 to 2018 occurred on roads that were in good condition, proving that a major cause was human error.
