Be Careful on the Road: 12 Factors Contributing to Traffic Accidents

Based on a report from the Indonesian National Police's National Criminal Information Center (Pusiknas), there were 62,975 traffic accidents in Indonesia during the first half of 2022, resulting in a total loss of Rp134.6 billion.

Approximately 18,000 of these accidents were caused by drivers' carelessness in observing the road ahead. This was the highest contributing factor recorded by the police.

Many accidents also resulted from drivers failing to maintain a safe distance, exceeding speed limits, engaging in other activities while driving, and various other forms of carelessness, as shown in the graph.

"Human factors are the most dominant cause of accidents. In vehicle collisions, human factors encompass all aspects related to the behavior of drivers and other road users, such as vision and hearing acuity, decision-making ability, and reaction speed to changes in environmental and road conditions," stated the police in their report.

Although human factors are dominant, traffic accidents can also be influenced by other factors, such as vehicle condition and environmental conditions.

"Vehicles must be roadworthy and maintained to ensure all parts function correctly, such as the engine, brakes, steering, tires, lights, mirrors, and seatbelts," the police stated.

In the first half of 2022, the police recorded approximately 1,900 accidents related to malfunctioning turn signals or brake lights.

Furthermore, accidents can also occur due to damaged roads, malfunctioning road markings, signs, and traffic signals, or collisions with animals. However, these account for a small proportion compared to accidents caused by human factors.

Overall, in the first half of 2022, the most frequent types of accidents were front-to-front collisions (22%), front-to-rear collisions (22%), and single-vehicle accidents (20%).

The majority of traffic accident victims had a high school education or equivalent, accounting for 71%. Meanwhile, 14% of victims were junior high school graduates, 10% were elementary school graduates, and 5% were university graduates.

The perpetrators of accidents also predominantly came from those with a high school education or equivalent, accounting for 77% of the total perpetrators recorded by the police.

"Based on available data, the highest number of traffic accident perpetrators were those without a driver's license (SIM), representing 63% of the total perpetrators, or 19,778 individuals," stated the police.