Indonesia's Idul Fitri Traffic Causes many Accidents, Casualties and Injuries
According to Indonesia's police department, heavy traffic caused by the Idul Fitri celebrations resulted in the deaths of more than 471 people as well as 740 seriously injured people in over 2000 traffic accidents. Most accidents are caused by drivers that fall asleep during the journey. Idul Fitri marks the end of the holy fasting month (Ramadan) and is one of the major national holidays in Indonesia. This year Idul Fitri fell on Thursday 8 August and, as usual, is accompanied by the tradition that Indonesians travel back to their places of birth.
This annual tradition brings about heavy traffic, particularly around the larger cities of Indonesia. Jakarta, for example, witnesses the outflow of millions of people and turns into a more-or-less empty city. For about one week (5-11 August 2013), Indonesia's business life comes to a near complete standstill.
On Sunday (11/08), most Indonesians started to return to the bigger cities, resulting in some serious traffic congestions. On Monday morning (12/08), traffic peaked in Jakarta between 5 and 6 am. It is also interesting to note that the amount of people that returns to Jakarta is usually larger than the amount of people that left Indonesia's capital city last week as the people who return often bring along a family member that is looking for unskilled employment.