By: Ageng Wibowo Jakarta, Jan 24 (ANTARA) - The deadly accident in Central Jakarta on Sunday (Jan 22) morning has caused deep concern among the people in safety driving. Last Sunday, when most people spent their days off relaxing at home, having leisure in recreational spots or just doing sports, people were shocked by a deadly car crash that killed at least nine pedestrians and injured three others. The accident took place in Jl. Ridwan Rais, Central Jakarta at about 11.30 am and instantly killed eight pedestrians who were standing at a bus stop. A 29 year old woman, Afriani Susanti, the driver and her three friends in the ill-fated Daihatsu Xenia car are now held by the police for further investigation as suspects. With a speed of at least 100 km/hour, the black minivan ran over several bystanders who had returned from their sporting activity at the National Monument (Monas). The result of a test on Afriyani's urine showed she was positive to have consumed ecstasy, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine and liquors. At first, Afriani said her car had a brake failure and therefore had to make a quick turn to left side of the road to stop, but accidentally hit several pedestrians. The dead victims are Pipit (18), Ujai (15), Yusuf (2,5), Wawan, Nani, Firmansyah, Suyatmi and two other unidentified victims taken to nearby Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta. And the four seriously injured are Siti Mukaromah (31), M. Akbar (22), Kenny (9) and Indra (11). Right after the accident, many eyewitness said the driver did not expressed remorse, instead avoid television crews and walked away. Suwarto, an eyewitness said the driver shouted at him after the accident. "I asked her whether she was drunk, but instead she shouted at me as if nothing happened and I was to blame," said Warto. According to Suwarto, bystanders immediately assisted the dead victims while the suspects were secured by the police to avoid mass furry. According to the police, the driver did not have any legal documents like a driver's license or vehicle registration papers, and was drunk when driving. Further investigations showed that Afriani and her three friends had a party at Jakarta's night clubs. "The night before the accident, the driver and three of her friends took drugs and alcohol at a cafe in South Jakarta. Then they left the hotel in Central Jakarta to attend a birthday party," police spokesman Senior Commissioner Rikwanto said here on Monday (Jan 23). According to the driver, Rikwanto said, she lost control of the car split seconds before the accident and hit a group of pedestrians crossing the street. Afriyanti is now facing with six years in jail and a fine of Rp12 million if found guilty. Article 283 is on driving a motor vehicle improperly or under impaired concentration, Article 287, paragraph 5 on the highest or lowest speed limits in driving, and Article 310 paragraphs 1 to 4 on people or vehicles that caused accidents or damage with dead or injured victims. As in the drug case, Afriani and her three friends will face Article 127 of Law No 35 of 2009 on narcotic abuse facing one year in jail, he said. Jakarta's governor Fauzi Bowo also commented on the accident as purely a human error not technical error, after attending a religious funeral ceremony (Tahlilan) at the victim's house at Tanah Tinggi, Johar Baru, Central Jakarta on Monday (Jan 23). "There is a tendency of human error, people must avoid bad behavior to prevent a recurrence," said Fauzi. Fauzi also asked the public to let the relevant authorities handle the case "We believe that the law will be imposed on the guilty," he said in responding to public comments in social media such as Twitter and Facebook on the case. Seconds after the accident, Arfiyani's twitter account @SiNengApril was filled with obscenities from many Indonesian Twitter users which then forced her to shut down the account and made a new one @SiNengAprilia to apologize to all of victim's family. In the meantime, urban planning observer Marco Kusumawijaya came up with the idea to build a monument to commemorate the dead victims at the crash site. The monument is to commemorate the victims of pedestrians who died in the crash. It is best if built at the crash site as a warning to all drivers to be more careful, he said. "It is not intended to blaspheme the offender, just a warning to prevent similar incidents," Marco said. As known widely about the effects of consuming drugs such as crystal meth (Methamphetamine) will reduce a person's driving ability. The drugs will force the users to accelerate their cars. Maybe this accident is a warning to all drivers to pay more attention while driving and not to drive while under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, because no matter how sophisticated a car is if the person behind the wheel is not driving with responsibly will lead to a fatal accident. ***3***

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Editor : FAROCHA


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