Travelers Must Stay Vigilant of Railway Crossing During Year-End Holiday, Observer Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Transportation expert Djoko urged drivers to be vigilant while coming across railway crossings while traveling during the Christmas and New Year holidays. According to Djoko, fatal accidents often occur surrounding this area.

Citing KAI, Djoko mentioned that 1,934 accidents occurred on railway crossings from 2018 to Nov. 19, 2023. Over 1,667 accidents or 86.2 percent happened on unguarded railway crossings while the rest 267 or 13.8 percent happened on guarded crossings.

Out of those accidents, 1,148 accidents or 59.3 percent of the total occurrence involved motorcycles while 786 vehicles involved in the accidents were four-wheeled.

These accidents caused over 1,409 fatalities with 502 dead, 458 heavily wounded, and 449 had minor injuries.

Nearing the end of the year, KAI recorded 289 railway crossings already, with 172 cases involving motorcycles and 117 cases involving four-wheeled vehicles.

"Many accidents happened on railway crossings at night recently, located at sub-urban areas," Djoko told Tempo on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023.

Djoko asked the central and local governments to close the high-risk railway crossings. He also asked the government to provide overpasses so drivers would not have to cross the railway crossings. 

According to Djoko, railway crossings must be guarded 24/7, or at least provided with a barrier. 

KAI recorded that there were 3,693 railway crossings throughout 2023. Those include 1,598 guarded crossings (by bridges at 466 locations, KAI operations at 490 locations, the transportation office at 291 locations, and communities at 351 locations), and unguarded railway crossings (with 1,132 official crossings and 963 unofficial ones).

DICKY KURNIAWAN | AMELIA RAHIMA SARI

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