The traffic accident rate fell significantly during this year’s Eid al-Fitr exodus due to a decline in the number of homecoming travelers using motorcycles and tourist buses, the Transportation Minister has said.

“(The number of traffic) accidents dropped 40 percent, while (the number of traffic accident-related) deaths plunged 72 percent,” Minister Budi Karya Sumadi informed after attending a limited meeting led by President Joko Widodo to evaluate the Eid al-Fitr homecoming, here on Tuesday.

The number of homecoming motorcyclists fell drastically during the Eid exodus, the minister noted adding that, the government was grateful to homecoming travelers who did not use motorcycles for long-distance journeys.

He said the number of tourist buses used to transport Eid homecoming travelers also dropped.

In general, tourist buses used to transport Eid homecomers were second-hand buses serving inter-provincial routes. “Sometimes, we cannot trace whether the drivers of the tourist buses are true,” he added.

During the Eid exodus period this year, the government had urged provincial police and transportation offices across the country to take measures against the owners of tourist buses illegally used to transport homecoming travelers.

Source: Antara News