"The YLKI supports the province's transportation office to draft the regulations, and we called on Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to immediately pass the bill,"
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The use of electric scooters in Indonesia, mainly Jakarta, should be strictly regulated by laws to avert hazardous impacts on consumers since a car fatally hit two riders last week, a watchdog stated here on Thursday.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) noted that it will back the Jakarta provincial government and the transportation ministry to draft regulations pertaining to the use of electric scooters in the country, the watchdog's chairman, Tulus Abadi, remarked.

"The YLKI supports the province's transportation office to draft the regulations, and we called on Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to immediately pass the bill," Abadi reaffirmed.

The consumer rights watchdog believes the authority should impose laws on the e-scooter's license, tariff, and insurance, so in the event of incidents that claim lives or cause injuries, the e-scooter operator would understand its liabilities.

On Nov 10, a group of six e-scooter riders was hit by a car that was crossing at full speed at Senayan, Central Jakarta, at around midnight. The police later found that the car driver was in an inebriated state.

As a result, four riders were flung 10 to 15 meters, while the two others got dragged further. The two 18-year-old riders were found in an unconscious state and pronounced dead at the hospital owing to severe injuries on their head, back, and spinal areas.

Abadi believes that the incidents could have been averted if the e-scooter operator had offered clear-cut safety instructions to the users. "The information of Dos and Don'ts in terms of safety is essential, but I have not yet found it was provided by the operator," he noted.

Hence, YLKI has appealed to the authority to halt any operations of e-scooters in the country prior to the regulations being put into place.

He expounded that the operator must ensure that the users have a good understanding of the security and safety rules. It becomes more critical since no special lanes were demarcated for e-scooters.

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Translator: Dewanto S/Genta Tenri Mawangi
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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