Three Reasons Why The Police Did Not Name The TransJakarta Driver Who Hit A Pedestrian In Ragunan A Suspect

Transjakarta buses. (Irfan Meidianto/VOI)

JAKARTA - Police stated that the TransJakarta bus driver who hit a pedestrian to death in the Ragunan area, South Jakarta, was not named a suspect. There are at least three underlying reasons.

"The results of the case title concerning the driver and YH are not sufficient elements to be made a suspect," said Head of the Sub-Directorate for Traffic Service Law Enforcement (Gakkum Ditlantas) Metro Jaya Police Brigadier Argo Wiyono when contacted, Wednesday, December 15.

The first reason that the driver was not named a suspect was that at the time of the accident the bus driver did not have the distance to brake.

Because the distance between the bus and the victim was only 4 meters. In fact, if the bus is traveling at a speed of 30 km per hour, a distance of 10 to 14 meters is required.

"There is not enough distance to brake. Because earlier the distance to stop at a speed of 30 km per hour was at least 10 meters, it was a dry road. Because that night the road was wet about 14 meters," said Argo.

The second reason is that there is no room for the bus to escape. This is because the width of the busway lane has been adjusted according to the size of the bus.

"There is no room for movement on the busway. This means that the driver can't go left or right. If you hit the left side of the separator, the fatality will be higher if you hit the barrier to the right," he said.

The last reason, said Argo, was the victim's fault. Because, as pedestrians, they should cross using a pedestrian bridge. In fact, if no one can use a zebra cross.

"From the pedestrian side, there is a rule in Article 172 paragraph 1 that a pedestrian crossing must use the crossing," said Argo.

"Then in 172 paragraph 2, if there is no pedestrian bridge, he must cross where it is provided, so there must be a zebra crossing, so you still have to pay attention to safety," he continued.

Previously, a TransJakarta bus hit a pedestrian on Jalan Raya Taman Margasatwa Raya, South Jakarta, on Monday, November 6.

In fact, as a result of the accident, the pedestrian died at the scene.