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Recent fatal bus crash highlights poor enforcement of safety rules
A bus crash that killed 30 people in Sumedang, West Java, last month once again highlights violations of transportation safety rules and their lack of enforcement.
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Search and rescue personnel evacuate victims from a bus that plunged into a ravine in Wado, Sumedang regency, West Java, on March 10. More than 20 passengers were killed in the accident. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
A bus crash that killed 30 people in Sumedang, West Java, last month once again highlights violations of transportation safety rules and their lack of enforcement.
A probe into the accident by the Transportation Ministry revealed that the bus had not undergone the mandatory semiannual roadworthiness test in the past year. According to preliminary results from a separate investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), meanwhile, the driver, who has died in the crash, used an improper braking technique on a winding downhill road. That led to a brake failure that caused the bus carrying 66 passengers to plunge into a 20-meter ravine.
The crash brings to mind a similar fatal bus accident that killed 23 people in Sukabumi, West Java, in 2018. At that time, the ministry found that, besides being overloaded, the ill-fated bus also had not undergone roadworthiness checks for two consecutive years.
According to director general for land transportation Budi Setiyadi, Indonesia's traffic accidents fatalities rose over the years. In 2001, the country saw around 10,000 deaths linked to road accidents, but the number tripled in 2018.
"That means two to three people in Indonesia die every hour in traffic accidents,” Budi said on Tuesday, adding that around 11 percent of the accidents involved trucks and buses.
KNKT records, meanwhile, show that at least 26 bus crashes resulted in 270 deaths between 2014 and 2018.
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