Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, May 25, 2012
Archive Search

Jakarta Bus Operator Could Lose Routes if Found Liable for Two Accidents
Ronna Nirmala | February 21, 2012

Share This Page
0
2
0
8
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

DrDez
3:03pm Feb 22, 2012

or bridges or schools

Chevron22
10:06am Feb 22, 2012

Blightyboy.. I agree 1000% Government need to be held responsible for their LACK of action.. Poor policing, poor roads, poor infra

Chevron22
10:02am Feb 22, 2012

Exbrit, be serious, we live in the worst city in the world for traffic, buses, trains are a must, if anything there needs to more strict policing on all transport, Motor bikes to stay in the FAR LEFT lane unless overtaking or turning right, the Bus-way needs to be run like the Transit lane in other cities, where only Buses, Taxi's and Cars with 3 or more people can use the lane. Police are too soft on drivers in this city and this all comes back to Police being under paid by government.. so the police feel they must supplement their income by taking "Rp.50k" for their efforts.. these problems are much bigger than anyone wants to admit.. especially Indo Govt.

blightyboy
9:46am Feb 22, 2012

I quote: “The law holds them responsible for whatever their drivers do, so they could face criminal charges" - and this should also be the case where government authorities cause injury or death because they fail to maintain the roads as they should.

blightyboy
9:42am Feb 22, 2012

This is a welcome action.

It is about time that the authorities started acting responsibly when peoples lives are put at risk.

Talking of taking responsibility. I wonder how many motorcyclists die each year because of the appalling state of the roads? In Ubud many of the roads are so full of holes that some are almost impassable. I am not talking tiny cracks, but holes that are very deep and treacherous for motorbikes if they go into them. And, this is a major tourist resort that obviously benefits from huge amounts of cash pouring into its coffers, so money cannot be an excuse.

It is about time in Indonesia that lazy and incompetent authorities were held accountable under law.

Bus operator Mayasari Bhakti could lose the permit to operate two of its routes in Jakarta if it is found liable for two major accidents in as many days in which one person was killed and several others injured.

Udar Pristono, the head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said the revocation of the permit would be contingent on the findings of police investigations into the accidents in Slipi, West Jakarta, and Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta.

“The punishment could range from revoking the licenses of the drivers involved, to revoking Mayasari Bhakti’s permit to operate the routes in question, but it all depends on what the police probes turn up,” he said.

In the first accident, a Mayasari Bhakti bus serving the route from Kampung Rambutan to Kalideres in West Jakarta on Sunday slammed into the back of a TransJakarta bus in Slipi as the driver sped while exiting the toll road.

Ten people were reported injured in that incident, while the driver, Eko N., 42, has been named a suspect for reckless driving.

Police are also looking into allegations that he was using a phone at the time of the crash.

The second incident occurred on Monday as another Mayasari bus, heading for Poris in Tangerang, crashed into a series of cars and motorcycles upon exiting Kampung Rambutan terminal. A motorcyclist was killed and several other people were hurt.

Police have arrested the driver in that incident, Supriyadi, 27, and charged him with involuntary manslaughter under the 2009 Traffic Law. Udar said that under the traffic law, the operator could lose the permit to operate both routes even if it was not directly responsible for the accidents.

“The law holds them responsible for whatever their drivers do, so they could face criminal charges, revocation of their route permits or a temporary operating suspension,” he said.

Mayasari Bhakti officials said the company would abide by whatever the police probes into the two accidents recommended, but insisted that if there was a problem, it was not with the condition of the buses.

“If you’re talking about technical factors, we address those by repairing the buses or grounding them from being used,” said Arifin Azhari, the company’s assistant director.

“We routinely ensure that our buses are in good condition. But if it’s a question of human error, that’s something we can’t overlook. Whether or not these turn out to be cases of human error, we’re still going to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all our drivers.”

He added all the company’s drivers were trained by Mayasari Bhakti working in cooperation with the Jakarta Police and the city transportation office.

“They’re also given weekly evaluations, and if they don’t pass, we send them back for more training,” Arifin said.

The accidents are the latest in a series of recent crashes involving buses that have claimed at least 45 lives in Java since the start of the year.

 

Additional reporting by Bayu Marhaenjati