The Ministry of Transportation is preparing rules to use vehicle safety technology

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation is preparing regulations to require the use of vehicle safety technology so that national standards increase, prepare regulations to require the use of vehicle safety technology so that national standards increase, reduce the risk of fatal accidents, and complete education, law enforcement and protection of road users.

Director of Road Transport Facilities and Safety of the Directorate General of Land Transportation, Ministry of Transportation, Yusuf Nugroho, said that this would be drafted as an implementation of government regulations, which would be included in the Minister of Transportation Regulation.

"The plan includes safety programs and the determination of stakeholders responsible for various aspects, including technology that supports driving safety," said Yusuf at the Road Safety Reflection 2025 & Action Agenda 2026 forum as stated in a statement received in Jakarta, Saturday.

He explained that the government opened the widest possible opportunities for its use, with the stipulation that the technology must contribute significantly to the aspect of safety.

"Safety needs to be agreed upon and used as a basis for implementation by all parties. The government has a policy stage that ensures technology can develop faster, especially if it is regulated through ministerial regulations," said Yusuf.

He emphasized that efforts to improve road safety were not intended to reduce the role of education, law enforcement, and the responsibility of road users.

On the other hand, he said that strengthening vehicle safety standards is seen as an additional layer of protection (second layer of safety) that works alongside behavioral changes, especially in mitigating fatal risks due to human error.

"The government itself actually has a large space to regulate the application of safety technology as a standard for two-wheeled vehicles, such as quality helmets and internationally standard braking systems," he said, explaining.

He said neighboring countries such as Malaysia had implemented the policy, after a two-year study by the country's Ministry of Transportation, in which braking system technology such as ABS was designated as a mandatory standard for new motorcycles because it has been proven to reduce the number of accidents and deaths by up to 30 percent.

It is said that 2026 is an important milestone for Indonesia, where the country only has four years left to achieve the global target of reducing traffic accident fatalities by 50 percent by 2030, in line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.

Referring to the United Nations record, around 80 percent of fatal accidents in the country involve two-wheeled vehicles, and two-thirds of the victims are known to not have a driver's license.

Kalemdiklat Polri Komjen Pol Chryshnanda Dwilaksana menegaskan keselamatan jalan menjadi isu global dengan fokus utama penggunaan helm, pengendalian kecepatan, serta penguatan sistem perlindungan guna menjamin keselamatan seluruh pengguna lalu lintas.

"Two main issues that have so far been the focus of the world's attention are the use of helmets and speed control. In addition, a system that supports the protection of road users and ensures the safety of all traffic users is also needed," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Road Safety Association (RSA) Indonesia, Rio Octaviano, emphasized that in the context of motorcycle dominance, strengthening driving behavior must go hand in hand with the implementation of safe vehicles so that each pillar of road safety can be carried out effectively according to its mandate.

Indonesia has five pillars of road safety, but its implementation is still not balanced. Pillar 3 regulates aspects of technology and vehicle standards, while road user behavior is emphasized in Pillar 4 through education and law enforcement.

"The dominance of motorcycles as the main mode of transportation not only reflects the reality of people's mobility, but also reveals systemic challenges, ranging from vehicle safety standards, road infrastructure quality, to road user behavior," he explained.

Therefore, he said it was very important that each pillar clearly differentiated its role and responsibility, without blaming each other or focusing the burden on one approach alone.

"This clarity is actually needed so that all pillars can be carried out in parallel, consistently, and mutually reinforcing," said the officer.