Being on eight wheels (sometimes more, sometimes fewer) does not necessarily entitle you to use Jakarta’s major roads, authorities stressed, specifically referring to inline skaters who recently rolled their way toward public scorn.
Footage taken on Gatot Subroto Road went viral over the weekend, showing a group of speed skaters — including children — rollerblading together in a line while hogging the middle lane. As cars and motorcycles honk amid their struggle to drive past the skaters safely, one adult rollerblader had the audacity to express his irritation at a passing car.
The tweet above pointed out similarities between the skaters and road cyclists, some of whom felt entitled enough to be able to disrupt traffic on the capital’s major roads especially during the outdoor exercise fad in the early days of the pandemic.
In case you’re wondering, inline skating on major roads is indeed prohibited by the country’s traffic law.
“It’s certainly forbidden [to skate] in the middle of the road like that, because it’s not a skating track,” Jakarta Metro Police spokesman E Zulfan said on Sunday.
“In addition, doing so is dangerous for the skaters themselves.”
Zulfan said the police will issue a verbal warning to the skating community. He said they will be sanctioned if they go off-track again.
If you can afford expensive speed skating gear, you can probably afford to skate at some of Jakarta’s fine indoor and outdoor venues. Please don’t put yourself and children at risk of getting run over by cars.
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