Viral: Civilian with police lights installed in his car caught using them illegally to beat traffic jam

Police or emergency vehicle lights and sirens are illegal for civilian vehicle use in Indonesia, but they are still easily attainable for purchase at many car accessories shops in the country.

One driver in Bogor recently caused much outrage online after a viral Facebook post alleged that he had installed police lights in his car and used them to own the road.

According to the poster, he was driving his car on the congested road in front of Cibinong Market in Bogor on Monday morning. Behind him, a man driving a white Honda Mobilio turned on his police lights and honked to force other vehicles out of the way. The poster also alleged that the Mobilio driver almost pushed a motorcycle over with his aggressive driving in tight spaces.

As the Mobilio was overtaking the poster’s car, the poster said he told the driver not to act arrogant just because he has police lights. The Mobilio driver then pulled over and challenged the poster to a fight, which was prevented by a military officer who was at the scene.

After the story went viral, the Bogor Resort Police soon identified the Mobilio driver as a man named Steven, who is not a police officer, making his possession of police lights illegal. The authorities contacted Steven’s residence and invited him to come to the police station, which he eventually did this morning.

“Steven was willing to come to the Traffic Accidents Unit at the Bogor Resort Police to hand over the police rotator or strobe lights for safekeeping,” said Hasby Ristama, head of the Bogor Resort Police Traffic Department, as quoted by Kumparan today.

Hasby did not say whether or not Steven would face punishment for the infringement, but he warned other civilians not to install police lights or sirens in their car.

Indonesian traffic laws dictate that blue strobe lights with sirens are reserved for the police, red lights with sirens are reserved for emergency or military vehicles, and yellow lights are for toll road patrol cars or public facility maintenance vehicles. Civilians caught using any of these lights or sirens may be jailed for up to one month or fined up to IDR250,000 (US$18.50).

Update: The Bogor Resort Police has reportedly fined Steven in accordance to the law.