Reckless driving starts in junior high school

Ilham Dwi Putra was only 14 when his parents bought him a motorcycle and allowed him to take it to SMP Angkasa junior high school in East Jakarta.

The school prohibits students from bringing their vehicles, but students circumvented the rule by parking motorcycles outside the school area.

On Jan. 9, Ilham drove his motorcycle to Jl. Raya Pondok Gede, just a few hundred meters from his school. A minivan hit him when he was trying to overtake and he died at the scene.

Ilham had the vehicle registration documents but had no drivers license, the schools deputy headmaster, Basuki Rahmat, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. We warned students not to bring their motorcycles but many of them just dont listen. Junior high school students are too young to control vehicles.

Concerns have been raised over the lack of traffic safety following last weeks fatal accident in Central Jakarta that killed nine and an incident in Makassar where a 14year-old student injured at least 11 people during a wild joyride.

Basuki said Jakartas traffic chaos was not an environment for high school students, who he considered amateur drivers. He said inexperienced and unlicensed students were endangering not only themselves but also others. Many of the students drive so fast without knowing how dangerous it can be, he said.

In May last year, five students from SMP Negeri 275 in East Jakarta driving two motorcycles were involved in a race near Halim Perdanakusuma Airport. One motorcycle hit the road separator and its three passengers, Pandu, 13, Taufik, 13 and Hardi, 14, died on the spot. The police said that none of the students wore helmets.

In August last year, two teenage girls were killed in a car accident after participating in pre-dawn convoys in South Jakarta. Sixteen year olds Nur Aisah and Astrid died instantly after the car they were riding in hit a tree on Jl. Warung

Buncit Raya. The police reported that the car was driven at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour.

Another fatal accident was recorded in February 2010. A speeding car, with five high school student passengers, smashed into a wall on Jl. Sumenep, claiming the lives of Erfin Januar Tantriadi, 17, Nikita Putri, 18, and Rio Hartanto Wijaya, 19. Two other passengers were critically injured.

Following numerous accidents among high school students, the Jakarta Police suggested schools prohibit students from taking motorcycles or cars to school.

SMA Negeri 48, a senior high school located in East Jakarta, said that it allowed its students to take motorcycles but prohibited them from driving cars to the school.

The schools head of administration, Sunardi, said that 90 percent of the students drove motorcycles to the school, with around 700 to 800 motorcycles in the schools parking place. We need to get the students here by 6:30 a.m. Many of our students will be late if they use public transportation, he said.

Sunardi said the school did not monitor the students drivers licenses. The police should check the students drivers licenses.

However, Sunardi said the school regularly told its 946 students to drive respectfully.

City Traffic Police education and management division head Adj. Sr. Comr. Kanton Pinem said that visiting schools and teaching students about driving ethics were the best things that police could do to reduce accidents involving students.

He cited several bad driving habits among students, including falsifying drivers licences, driving faster than the average speed and using communication devices while driving.

Students easily lose their concentration when driving as they are busy talking with their friends. (lfr)