Why Jakarta has better roads than Melbourne

3 years ago with Sang Kotak

I remember the first time I ever drove in Jakarta. It was a great experience. I loved honking my horn in my husbands Suzuki Karimun, or as I like to call it 'sang kotak' ('the box'). The local school kids were amazed at the sight of a white girl driving in their neighbourhood and began to wave at me. Usually the closest they get to white people is seeing them on the television.

I never feel unsafe in Jakarta. I have more often than not felt unsafe right around my neighbourhood here in Melbourne. 

I believe Jakarta's roads are not only safer, but also, in some ways, much better all around. I'm not talking about the quality of roads - definitely not. We once hit a rock in the middle of a broken road and I had to direct traffic. The fact that I was white did not add to the novelty for all the angry Indonesian commuters.

Here are some reasons why I think Jakarta is not just safer than Melbourne for driving:

Source

1. Jakarta roads are safer because there are no high speed crashes
On a good day, it can take 1 hour to drive a kilometer. Basically, how can you have a high speed crash if you never get the chance to go high speed? The term for this is macet meaning congested. My favorite saying for this is macet total!

2. Trying to park your stretch limo? No worries!
There's an unwritten rule in Jakarta. You just flash your headlights and somebody will come and direct you to park your car. They shout a set of instructions from "terus" (keep going) "kiri" (left) "kanan" (right) "lurus" (straighten up). This service is about rp 15.000 (20 cents) and is available in most shopping centres - big or small.

3. Dehydrated? Not a problem!
On the side of many roads closer to the centre of Jakarta are people selling peanuts, bananas, newspapers and water. And on those days when the traffic just wont move, you can always jump out and there's bound to be a street seller not far away!

4. Roads are so safe, you barely need rules
You don't need a car seat or seatbelts in the back seat. A family of four can ride a motorbike with no helmets.

A banci in Bandung
Photo courtesy my Sister

5. The roads can be entertaining
Often there will be people playing their guitar or performing some kind of act. In Bandung we see lots of she-males. We call them banci.

A boy offering his services

6. The roads create jobs.
People give themselves work by getting in the middle of traffic and starting to direct it. Basically if they let you give way, it means you give them money. I also once saw kids offering to get into cars so that the businessmen could go down the express lane as they needed more than one person in the car. When they make or repair roads, they make them so they aren't good quality, so that when they are continuously unroadworthy (pardon the pun) they can go back and fix them all over again to get more work.

7. Fuel saving traffic lights
I used to wonder why they had traffic lights that counted down - it's so that you can turn off your engine while waiting. Not only does this save fuel, it also helps to cut down emissions. A win win all around!

So where would you rather be?