Road Traffic Injury in Focus

Traffic is the number one problem in Jakarta. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world so it is understandable that its capital has more than a half of share of its citizens since it has been developing and a center of business and activity in the country. With the traffic in Jakarta, you can be stuck for two hours playing poker with your fellow commuters with no concern of inching a bit. Despite the congestion, there are still a lot of incidents that happen on the roads, especially to motorbikes who thinks they are too small to be struck by other vehicles.

 

Axis Capital Group, Singaporean-based Company which sells and rents capital equipment has just recently expanded its business to Jakarta and has since been involved to projects which can help ease the problem of heavy traffic. For years, the government, private institutions, public organizations and non-profit bodies have battled with solutions to lift this issue. As the challenge is continuously getting in each individual’s nerves, and many complaints are being faced by the authorities, injuries add to the issue.

 

Road traffic injuries may be common and oftentimes ignored issue for civilians. What is not known to many is that traffic accidents claim millions of lives every year. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people in the region and are predicted to increase in countries with low or medium income as they become more highly motorized.

 

According to the World Health Organization publication, road safety depends on how societies choose to manage transport systems, land use and urban development in relation to their overall health and safety objectives and how they are balanced with economic, social and environmental considerations.

 

For passenger transport, the shift from public transport, walking and cycling towards private cars and motorized two-wheelers has marked a move towards modes and means of transport that pose comparatively higher costs to society. For goods, the combination of decentralized production, modern logistics and globalization of markets has increased the number of and distances travelled by heavy vehicles, which increase the risks to other road users compared by shipping by rail, sea or inland waterways.

 

Road crashes result from a complex combination of elements that, in addition to the behavior of road users, include factors beyond their control, such as poor design or failure in the performance of vehicles or road infrastructures. Various reviews state that this leads to the development of a systems approach in which all components of the system (users, vehicles and infrastructures) are seen as interrelated. This allows problems to be identified, strategies formulated, targets set and performance monitored.