Efforts to improve the discipline of road users must continue to be conductedJakarta (ANTARA) - The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has said that it is necessary for people to increase compliance with traffic rules and create a good driving culture to reduce the rate of accidents during Eid exodus this year.
"A number of traffic accidents occurring over the last few weeks are very concerning, (they have been) often caused by the negligence of the drivers themselves. Efforts to improve the discipline of road users must continue to be conducted," deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Lestari Moerdijat said in a written statement received here on Tuesday.
She made the remark in relation to the Transportation Ministry's data, which showed an increase in traffic accidents from 2020 to 2021, leading to losses of up to Rp246 billion.
Moerdijat said that not only material losses, the accidents also cost people's lives, as reflected by data from the Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Transportation Ministry in March 2022. There were as many as 100,028 traffic accidents in 2020, with the number of fatalities or deaths reaching 23 thousand.
The figure increased in 2021, with 103,645 accidents claiming 25,266 lives, she pointed out. The number of accidents increased by 3 thousand and fatalities by 2,000, she said.
Traffic accidents are inseparable from extreme climate and weather conditions as well as a number of factors that affect road safety, including traffic culture, driver competence, comprehension of regulations, and conditions of land transportation facilities and infrastructure, she opined.
Some of these contributing factors must be controlled through efforts to educate people, given that around 85 million people will participate in the Eid exodus this year using various means of transportation, she said.
Adherence to traffic rules and orientation toward safety must be applied to every trip for it to become a culture, she added.
Wearing seat belts and obeying speed limits on freeways are part of traffic discipline, Moerdijat said.
She reminded people to obey traffic regulations in the form of policies or traffic signs on the highway for the sake of everyone's safety.
In the midst of preparing to regulate the flow of homecoming travel, travelers must be educated to build awareness and compliance with traffic regulations.
This is because many regulations would be in vain if people do not obey them, she said.
Moerdijat called for everyone's collective support--not just central or regional governments--in implementing this year's Eid exodus policies and ensuring they are implemented and followed well.
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Translator: Imam B, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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