The Jakarta government has been pushing to rejuvenate the fleets of old city buses like the Metromini and the Kopaja, but if this story serves as any indication, the attitudes of their drivers also need some serious re-evaluation.
Yesterday, a Metromini bus was caught driving on the Busway lane near Jatinegara train station, East Jakarta. The Busway lane is exclusive for the city’s TransJakarta buses, but there have been many who risked driving on it, such as cars, motorcycles, and buses from other companies, in order to bypass traffic jams, despite the threat of heavy fines.
Ucok, the driver of the Metromini bus, faced a pretty heavy penalty for breaking the traffic law. Traffic officers had his bus towed and he has to pay a heavy penalty in order to release it from confiscation.
But instead of accepting his punishment, Ucok played victim and started berating the officers.
“Please fix this country’s system. How can you continue to defend those in power while the little people are continually stepped on? Why did you have to take my bus?” Ucok said, as quoted by Warta Kota.
Ucok said that he deliberately broke the law by driving his bus onto the Busway lane because he was in a hurry to pick up passengers in Kampung Melayu.
“The road was jammed, how was I supposed to get there in time?” he shouted at the officers.
We’re sure many drivers in Jakarta have shared Ucok’s frustration at one point or another. But the difference between him and the majority of road users in Jakarta is that most would rather stick it out in long traffic jams than break the law, potentially endangering themselves and others.
Furthermore, a Transportation Agency officer said that Ucok didn’t have the appropriate vehicle documents on him when he was caught. Funnily enough, he did have in his possession a traffic ticket for a prior violation that was long overdue.
