"The high number of road traffic accidents is a serious concern of the Ministry of Transportation. Collaboration between stakeholders is the key to success in efforts to improve road safety," he stated in an online discussion on ‘Joint Commitment to Improve Traffic and Road Transportation Safety,’ accessed from here on Wednesday.
Sumadi explained that the government's commitment to improving road safety has been demonstrated in Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2013 concerning the Decade of Action for Road Safety program, which aims to realize the five pillars of road safety action.
He further said that the government recently issued Presidential Regulation Number 1 of 2022 concerning the National General Plan for Traffic and Road Transportation Safety (RUNK LLAJ) on January 3, 2022.
"This regulation becomes a reference for ministries, agencies, provincial governments, and regional governments in synergizing the formulation of documents for planning, implementation, and control of road transport traffic," he said.
Based on data from the National Police (Polri), the number of deaths due to traffic accidents reached 23,529, or the equivalent of three deaths per hour, in 2020. As many as 73 percent of the victims were motorcycle riders.
In addition, many road accidents involved freight vehicles, their incidence was second-highest after motorcycles at 12 percent.
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To this end, the Ministry of Transportation, through the Directorate General of Land Transportation, is committed to dealing with the problem of over-dimension and overloaded vehicles.
A number of efforts have been made, including the normalization of motor vehicles, requirement of proof of passing the electronic test (BLU-e), implementation of the Public Transport Company Safety Management System (SMK PAU), law enforcement by supervising vehicle body industry and modification workshop, supervision of motor vehicle testing, and supervision of operational and law enforcement.
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Translator: Adimas Raditya, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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