TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
WDR event for road victims urges heightened enforcement, road safety awareness
Even as the health emergency has led to a reduction in traffic volumes on the country's roads, a commemorative event to remember the victims of road accidents has acknowledged that Indonesia needs to do more in enforcement and awareness for road safety.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
An activist installs mannequins at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to commemorate the 2020 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Nov. 15. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
W
ith an infrastructure developed mostly with motorized vehicles in mind, Indonesia is no stranger to road accidents that claim tens of thousands of lives each year. Weak law enforcement and a glaring lack of public awareness are just two of the many culprits of the deadly traffic violations that continue to occur, while observers continue to demand that the government do more to pick up the slack.
As of Oct. 31 this year, the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) has recorded 83,715 traffic incidents nationwide that have resulted in 19,320 fatalities, 8,995 people severely injured and another 95,135 people with minor injuries. These road accidents have also incurred a combined total of Rp 163.34 billion (US$11.55 million) in material losses.
The police recorded 107,500 traffic incidents and 23,350 fatalities last year.
During the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR), which is commemorated every third Sunday in November and which fell this year on Nov. 15, around 100 mannequins were placed in a line at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle as a tribute to victims of road accidents.
Putut Soedarjanto of the Bike2Work urban cycling community said that road accidents needed to become an institutional focus, given the considerably large number of victims such incidents claimed in light of the gross lack of awareness.
“[Road safety awareness] in Indonesia is still very small, since we often see traffic violations still continuing to occur, and we know that that’s the main cause of road accidents,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), an average of 96,000 traffic accidents per year occurred throughout the country from 2012 to 2018, with an average per year death toll of 27,100 and thousands of others suffering injuries.
