Motorcycles are practically an all-terrain vehicle in Indonesia, in that many motorcyclists casually disregard traffic laws to drive on any solid surface if it’s convenient for them. And that includes illegally driving on the railway bridge, which could’ve caused serious problems for this Indonesian man, who instead remained nonplussed even after he almost plunged to his death.
Yesterday, a video taken on board an inter-city train, which was crossing a railway bridge, was widely shared online. It first showed a damaged motorcycle on the edge of the bridge before it came across a man hanging on for dear life on a pole a few meters ahead.
When we said hanging on for dear life, the dude actually just smiled and nodded when someone on the train told him, “Think of your life, man. Aduuh,” using an Indonesian word commonly used to express disapproval.
The identity of the man is not known, but the video was reportedly taken on the Cikeas River Railway Bridge in Bogor, West Java. It’s likely that he used the railway bridge as a shortcut, given that many Indonesian motorcyclists regularly do the same thing or drive against the flow of traffic to shorten their trips.
There have been no further incident reports from the location, which means that the man thankfully escaped unhurt. Under Indonesian law, he should have faced three months in prison or an IDR750K (US$51) fine for illegally driving on a train track.
Further highlighting the general lack of awareness for railway safety, we should also point out that peering out of the window of a moving train to shoot a video is recklessly dangerous. You may also spot a woman carrying a small child standing by the railway at the end of the bridge, which, needless to say, is perilously dangerous.
Just stay away from train tracks, folks.
