Dealing with Jakarta's chaotic traffic, on and off the street, sometimes requires drastic and unexpected action - and some tolerance for pain.
Usually the strip of muddy ground between the litter-choked drainage ditch and the car-cluttered street provides people some room to walk on the way to and from a mall close to my apartment. That day, however, someone stopped a small automobile in the way, leaving no room – not even a thin, precarious path – to avoid the water on one side and the traffic on the other.
To get by, I chose the street. Since the oncoming vehicles were already swerving to avoid the parked car I hoped they would swerve a little more to avoid me as well. No such luck.
I made it as far as the driver's door – behind which he was still sitting – when a motorcycle sideswiped me, slamming me hard against the car. The motorcyclist – who presumably had not seen me and so failed to anticipate the collision – lost control of his bike and careened into another motorcycle. The two screeched to a halt locked together while I scrambled for safety, fearing a wider pile-up.
Fortunately, no one, not even me, was badly hurt – although the two motorbikes must have sustained some damage. The driver who caused the accident with his thoughtless parking only suffered a bent side-view mirror I had violently readjusted with my body. He got out of his car to see what was happening and was met by the sight of two motorcycle drivers trying to pry their bikes apart, a large jam of honking cars and me gesturing angrily at him over the hood of his vehicle. Judging by the look of shocked innocence on his face, he had no idea he had played the primary role in what was luckily a minor, but noisy, crash.
Welcome to Jakarta, a city that is not just unfriendly to pedestrians, but downright hostile.
Sadly, for someone on foot to get hit by a car or motorbike is not rare, whether in the street or on a sidewalk. Sidewalks are often too cluttered with food stalls, knickknack vendors, or parked vehicles to actually use for walking, forcing pedestrians onto the streets to vie for space with speeding drivers, who usually pay them no heed.
However, the danger is everywhere. When sidewalks are clear of obstructions many motorcyclists regard them as alternate routes for avoiding the ubiquitous macet – the word for 'traffic jams' in the local vernacular. The problem is that these drivers don't seem to understand they are infringing on a pedestrian's territory. They apparently consider the sidewalk a mere extension of the roadway to legitimately use whenever they have the need.
A famous incident illustrates this: A woman was filmed facing down a half dozen motorcycles that were blocking the narrow sidewalk she was attempting to use. Instead of backing away to grant her right-of-way, they could be heard verbally abusing her, as if she was in the wrong. Might – in the form of a gasoline-powered motorcycle – means right.
I've seen it for myself on too many occasions – seen it and felt it. When I walk to work I get hit by motorcycles two or three times a week. Since I usually walk facing traffic (as Elmer the Safety Elephant taught me in primary school) I always see when they leave the crowded traffic stream and head toward me down the sidewalk. Oddly, the drivers rarely seem to see me – or if they do, they apparently assume I will jump out of their way before they reach my position. However, in my stubbornness I rarely do.
Knowing what is about to happen, I employ one of the few things I actually learned during my three hopeless years as a teenage hockey player: the body check. I turn my left shoulder toward the bike, plant my right foot hard into the pavement, tuck my left arm into my side and tense my whole body.
When the collision happens, I'm fine, aside from some unavoidable bruising, but the driver seems taken by surprise. Not having anticipated hitting me, the handlebars are often wrenched right out of his grip and he lurches to an abrupt, awkward stop, or swerves back over the curb and out into the street, or just falls over.
True, my response to oncoming motorcycles could be considered irresponsible and is certainly dangerous, but in those situations I risk getting hit no matter what I do. Also, since the ultimate solution to the root cause – Jakarta's insanely congested traffic chaos – is far beyond the reach of a single, powerless foreign, only one course of action remains for me: Brace for impact!
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