Farouk Arnaz & Tri Listiyarini – With already 1,547 people killed in 9,884 road accidents this year, authorities and transport industry experts are pointing to weak implementation of the law as the main culprit.
"The number [of deaths due to traffic accidents] will soar to 65,000 in 2020 if the problem is not dealt with seriously," warned lawmaker Abdul Hakim, who drafted the 2009 Road Traffic Law. "The losses inflicted are estimated at 2.9 percent of gross domestic product."
According to data from the Asian Development Bank, traffic accidents in Indonesia killed 37,000 people in 2005 and 48,400 people in 2010.
Of the accidents so far this year, more than 9,000 have involved motorbikes, more than 1,000 have involved passenger cars and more than 207 have involved buses, National Police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said. In the accidents, 2,562 people suffered serious injuries and 7,564 had minor injuries, he added.
Abdul, who is secretary of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction in the House of Representatives, blamed the spike in accidents on weak implementation of the traffic law, which requires public transportation drivers to be trained before receiving a license.
"In the implementation level, public transportation drivers can easily obtain their licenses without getting any training," he said, calling on the police to impose a tighter watch over the issuance of licenses for public transportation drivers.
The lawmaker recommended that each province set up a center for driver safety to improve their skills and cut the accident rate, as required under the law. To date, these centers have only been established in four provinces: Riau, North Sumatra, Kendari (Southeast Sulawesi) and West Nusa Tenggara.
In the past week alone, at least 28 people were killed in just three bus accidents in West Java.
The Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) also blamed the failure to adequately train public transport drivers for the increase in traffic accidents. "The government must train the drivers because they apply for their drivers' licenses, which should be issued only after they get training from a regulator," Organda chairwoman Eka Sari Lorena Soerbakti said.
She said the government should allocate a budget – say Rp 10,000 ($1.10) from the driver's license fee – to help drivers get the training they need.
Police, meanwhile, are pushing transportation agencies to impose stricter roadworthiness tests, which are required under the traffic law but often conducted merely as formality.
Abdul said police officers should also be present at every bus terminal to examine the roadworthiness of buses before they leave, as they do at airports. "The police have mapped the areas that are prone to accidents," he said. "We are also keeping a watch on those areas."
[Additional reporting from Investor Daily.]