Asian Development Bank recorded that more than 1.3 million people die in traffic accidents every year, or about 3,500 people die every day. Ironically, 85% of mortalities and injured victims due to traffic accidents occur in low-income countries.
The impact in developing countries are a loss of USD 100 billion every year. “In ASEAN countries, traffic accidents cost USD 15 billion per year. For Indonesia, the loss amounts to 180 trillion per year or a loss around 2.9% per year from gross national product due to traffic accident,” said Joewono Soemarjito, a researcher of Pustral UGM, Monday (28/2), at the Center's office.
Joewono said that 8.5 Indonesian people die every year per 100,000 people per day due to accidents. This is an increase because in 2003 it was only 4,6 people per 100,000 people. A survey conducted by Pustral showed that victims of traffic in Yogyakarta are mostly of the young and productive age. “Every traffic accident in Yogyakarta in average involves two young people. Victims of accident in 2008 was mostly 16-25 year-old people reaching 1,278 people and 26-35 year-old people reaching 819,” he specified.
In a seminar High Risk of Traffic Accident for Young Motorcyclists, Joewono said that Pustral understands that most riders in Yogyakarta are under 17 years old (57%). “More than half of the respondents under 17 years old already have driving license for motorcycles, but they are actually not legally permitted to have it. This age group is a group that is not mature emotionally, so this is one of the causes for the increase in traffic accidents,” he said.
Furthermore, Joewono said that to reduce traffic accidents in young age group, close monitoring is required during the license making, particularly in terms of the minimum age requirement. It also needs socialization for motorcyclists and information of danger and risk of traffic accidents. “Socialization should also be done through education such as through curriculum about transportation regulation and safety,” he said.