Indonesia was among the countries having the high number of road accidents, he said during the launch of the campaign at the vice presidential office here.
Every year nearly 60 thousand people were killed in road accidents in the country. Therefore, the number of deaths and injuries in road accidents must be kept down, he said.
"Of course, the main target of the campaign is to lower the number of fatalities," he said.
To make thing worse, the road accidents mostly befell those of productive age who were supposed to contribute to the country`s progress, he said.
"In my view, the problem is so serious that we must handle it seriously. The causes of road accidents vary. They can be the poor condition of roads, motorcycles and cars which are not roadworthy. But it seems that the biggest cause is human factor," he said.
It was the road users themselves who would eventually determine road safety and thus, it was very imperative to control motorists` behavior, he said.
The government had issued a number of regulations related to road safety but the regulations were not enough without motorists` awareness about road safety, he said.
The vice president said he highly supported action plan for road safety which would focus on promoting motorists` awareness of road safety.
"I hope there will be a concrete step that can eventually lower the risk of road accidents caused by human errors," he said.
Also present at the launch of the campaign were Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar, Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata, and Deputy National Police Chief Comr Gen Nanan Soekarna. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
