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Jakarta Post

Ten dead after Cipali toll road collision

Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung, West Java
Tue, December 1, 2020

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Ten dead after Cipali toll road collision Traffic police and transportation officials from Cirebon, West Java, oversee traffic control measures on the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road on Oct. 31. (Antara/Dedhez Anggara)

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t least 10 people have died as result of a traffic collision that occurred early Monday morning on kilometer 78 of the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road between Jakarta and Cirebon, West Java, authorities have said.

West Java traffic police director Sr. Comr. Eddy Djunaedi said three vehicles were involved in the accident. “There are 10 dead victims,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The collision involved a minibus and two trucks.

The police suspected that the minibus driver had been drowsy on the drive to Cirebon, causing him to crash into the truck in front of him, which in turn collided with the other truck.

Eddy said eight people had died on the spot, including the minibus driver, while two others died while receiving emergency treatment at the Thamrin Hospital in Purwakarta, West Java.

Transportation Ministry land transportation director Budi Setiyadi blamed the collision on the minibus, which he said was operating as an unregistered intercity shuttle.

He urged people to refrain from using such services, which are known for low safety standards and an absence of permits and insurance.

“One of the causes of this incident is that passengers insist on choosing unlawful travel services,” Budi said on Monday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He said insufficient lighting and roads made slippery by rain had contributed to the accident.

The trucks involved in the collision were carrying cargo beyond their maximum capacities, both in dimension and weight.

Read also: Overload, fatigue main factors in truck accidents

Budi called on companies to ensure that their trucks did not carry more than the their maximum permitted load. The government, he said, would continue to try to stop overloaded trucks from driving to prevent similar traffic accidents from occurring.

“We will introduce mandatory load transfers [for overloaded trucks], so that vehicles carrying more than 50 percent of their load capacity will be stopped and required to transfer their cargo to another vehicle,” Budi said.

Trucks remain the preferred mode of shipping in many parts of Indonesia, as the infrastructure for alternative transport is often underdeveloped or the services are too costly.

As a result, many truck drivers are pressured to take on loads beyond their vehicle’s capacity or risk losing customers.

According to a 2014 report by the Australia-funded Indonesia Infrastructure Initiative (IndII), some 75 percent of Indonesia’s shipments are made over land on roads.

Shipping has slowed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and although travel between regions is no longer forbidden, even for passenger vehicles, people are still expected to follow the requirements for travel.

According to Transportation Ministry Regulation No. 41/2020 on transportation control during the pandemic, as well as COVID-19 task force Circular Letter No. 7/2020, anyone who wishes to travel between regions must have tested negative for COVID-19 through either a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a rapid test, which are valid for seven days and three days, respectively.

Travelers must also wear a mask while in the car, keep a safe distance from others and wash their hands regularly.

They are also advised to register their health status on an electronic health alert card (eHAC) to help with contact tracing. (ami)

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