Otodiva.id – Driving a car or motorbike on public roads requires concentration and focus to arrive at your destination safely. Even when we are focused, Sometimes the road situation filled with drivers with various characters turns out to be unfriendly for us. One of them is the activity of overtaking vehicles from the left side or shoulder of the road.
Traffic rules in Indonesia require the direction of vehicle speed to be on the left side. With the steering position on the right side of the car interior, then the right side of the road is set as an area for overtaking other vehicles. However, in reality you often encounter cars or motorbikes overtaking from the left side of the road. In certain situations, like a traffic jam, it can be done.
even so, overtaking or overtaking a vehicle from the left side carries more risks than the right side. What are the risks?? Instead of wondering, Otodiva.id will present 5 the risk of overtaking another vehicle with a car or motorbike from the left side.
1. Limited Viewpoint
Many accidents occur on the left side of the road because vehicle drivers are unable to see properly what awaits them on the road ahead. During the overtaking process, it is carried out from behind another moving car, especially large vehicles such as buses or trucks, then our view will definitely be obstructed. This can trigger an accident if you continue to force yourself to overtake from the left side.
In some street situations, It is not uncommon to find trucks parked on the left side of the road. As a result, the car that was driving and trying to overtake hit the back of the truck, causing serious damage. It even resulted in fatalities, if the vehicle hits at high speed. So, rather than dangerous when overtaking on the left side, it's better to just be patient.
2. Road shoulders are more sloping
Public road designs are usually made with a sloping concept on both sides of the road. This is done to channel water to disposal sites around the streets. The decline in the road contour may not be felt too much if we drive the car at medium or slow speed. But it can be felt more when the car is accelerated at high speed.
Forcing a car or even a motorbike to overtake from the left side or shoulder of the road can risk reducing the tire's grip on the road surface.. This can make the vehicle easily lose control and then become difficult to control. As a result, it could slip or even have an accident if we are not alert.
3. Taking Another Driver's Rights
When driving on the toll road, we can find 3 until 4 vehicle lane for overtaking or pulling over. Of course we can choose it according to our needs when driving. However, different things will be encountered when driving on relatively smaller urban/complex roads, even just have 2 lanes in opposite directions.
Sometimes in two-way lanes you can find cars forcing themselves to overtake from the left side of the road to look for opportunities to overtake. But what happens is that the road becomes stuck and ends up blocking the opportunity for other vehicles to move, in this case a motorbike or bicycle. In the end, the roads become even more congested because there is no room for other vehicles to move more freely. Instead of getting more traffic jams, there's nothing wrong with continuing to follow the existing queue.
4. Damaged Road Shoulder
In Indonesia it is almost difficult to find public roads that are not damaged. The effect of the quality of the ingredients may not be very good, to the 'custom' of digging projects on the side of the road to plant electricity cables or internet networks in several areas. As a result, we often find the damage gathered on the shoulder of the road, starting from cracking, perforated, even a landslide when there is a river on the side.
Nah, instead of giving yourself trouble when overtaking from the left side or the shoulder of the road, which ends up being forced to brake suddenly because it encounters a hole. So first try looking for an overtaking gap from the right/middle side of the highway, because road conditions tend to be better.
Apart from the damaged road conditions, It is not uncommon for us to find that the shoulders of the road are also used by traders to sell. This is certainly very dangerous and invites risks.
5. Break the law
Did you know that overtaking other vehicles has been regulated in Law No. 22 of the year 2009 regarding Traffic and Transportation of Goods. Pada paragraph ke-3 pasal 109 sentence 1 mentioned that, “Motorized vehicle drivers who want to pass another vehicle must use the lane or roadway to the right of the vehicle they are going to pass, have a free line of sight, and there is sufficient space.”
Meanwhile in verse 2 written, "In certain circumstances, The driver as referred to in paragraph (1) can use the left lane of the road while still paying attention to the safety and security of traffic and road transportation."
If it is arranged in such a way, I mean, we're still violating it on purpose. If possible, it should still be with attention to the safety and security of shared traffic.
That's a list of reasons why we shouldn't overtake other vehicles from the left side. Either by car or motorbike, Both of them have risks when driving on public roads. For cars, the risk can be even greater because their size and speed are relatively faster than motorbikes. Hope it is useful.
