Neglect of Road Safety, Driver Discipline

Eight people were killed at around 1 p.m. on Monday in a multiple vehicle collision that involved 20 vehicles headed from Bandung to Jakarta at KM 91 of the Purbaleunyi toll road.

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

Police officers survey the scene of a multiple vehicle collision on Monday (2/9/2019) at kilometer marker (KM) 92 of the Cipularang toll road in Purwakarta, West Java. At least nine people were killed in the accident that involved 21 vehicles, which allegedly occurred when a dump truck driver lost control of his vehicle due to a faulty brake.

BANDUNG, KOMPAS – Eight people were killed at around 1 p.m. on Monday (2/9/2019) in a multiple vehicle collision that involved 20 vehicles headed from Bandung to Jakarta at KM 91 of the Purwakarta-Bandung-Cileunyi (Purbaleunyi) toll road. Neglecting road safety has resulted in recurring accidents.

The accident occurred when Dedi Hidayat, 45, driving an earth-hauling truck, sped along a downhill stretch of the Purbaleunyi toll road and allegedly lost control of his vehicle, which swerved and rolled. The five vehicles behind the truck tried to stop to avoid a collision.

“However, a second truck driven by Subana, 40, also lost control because the brake didn’t work. The truck [rammed into] the vehicles in front of it,” law enforcement director Brig. Gen. Pujiyono Dulrachman of the National Police traffic corps said on Monday at the site of the accident.

Around a dozen other cars behind the truck drove into the collision, and four cars caught fire.

The truck drivers, Dedi and Subana, were traveling from Cianjur to Karawang in West Java. Subana said that he was driving his truck at a high speed, lost control of the vehicle and was unable to slow down along the downhill stretch of the toll road.

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

Local residents look at the burnt-out, mangled remains of vehicles on Monday (2/9/2019) in Purwakarta, West Java. At least nine people were killed in the 21-vehicle collision that occurred at kilometer marker (KM) 92 of the Cipularang toll road, during which four cars caught fire.

“Dedi passed my truck at high speed. He called me and said his brake wasn’t working. I could only pray that nothing would happen. In the end, the [accident] happened,” said Subana, who was being treated at the M.H. Thamrin Hospital in Purwakarta.

Dedi was killed in the crash. The other fatalities were identified as Endi Budiyanto, 62, Iwan bin Nisin, 34, and Hendra Tjahjana, 61. Four other fatal victims remain unidentified, due to the severity of their burns.

Three were seriously injured in the accident, while 25 other victims suffered minor injuries. They are being treated at M.H. Thamrin Hospital, Siloam Hospital Purwakarta and Bayu Asih Hospital.

The accident investigation is continuing on Tuesday, as are efforts to finish clearing the road of the vehicles involved in the crash. Traffic was backed up for 5 kilometers on Monday while the accident site was being cleared. The police implemented a contraflow system to reduce the congestion.

Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) transportation expert Ofyar Z. Tamin said it was possible that the drivers might have violated the maximum speed limit on the toll road.

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

An excavator clears the road of earth from a dump truck that was involved in a multiple vehicle collision on Monday (2/9/2019) at kilometer marker (KM) 92 of the Cipularang toll road in Purwakarta, West Java. At least nine people were killed in the accident, which involved 21 vehicles.

Apart from adhering to the speed limit, motorists must also maintain safe distance and estimate the time they need to respond to any accidents that might occur ahead of them.

“Minimum reaction time is 2 or 3 seconds. If the vehicles are too close, the drivers will not have enough time to avoid any vehicles that suddenly reduce speed ahead of them,” he said.

Senior instructor Jusri Pulubuhu of Jakarta Defensive Driving Consulting (JDDC) said that the recurrence of multiple vehicle accidents at KM 91 of the Purbaleunyi toll road was a reminder of the importance of [driver] discipline and anticipatory driving on toll roads.

He said that Purbaleunyi, especially the lanes heading to Jakarta, was full of downhill stretches and turns. “If [drivers] speed up along these areas, they will develop high momentum that goes beyond their physical capacity for controlling the vehicles,” he explained.

Kompas records show that several accidents have occurred along KM 91-KM 104 on the Purbaleunyi toll road. In June, eight people were injured in a six-vehicle collision on KM 95. In December 2012, eight were killed and 34 injured after a tour bus collided with the truck ahead of it on KM 100. In 2011, six were killed after a packed minibus collided with a truck on KM 93.

(MEL/TAM/DHF)