If You Don’t Move for Emergency Vehicles, You Deserve to Get Hit by One
A short reflection on emergency vehicle culture in Indonesia
Yesterday, I saw a video on Instagram of a fire truck hitting a red car in Jakarta because the car didn’t want to move to the side to give way. When I saw that, I felt relieved and honestly happy that the fire truck hit the car.
On the other hand, a lot of people were defending the driver, saying it was a woman and maybe she didn’t know how to drive. First of all, don’t be a misogynist rat and bring up gender. Second, if you can’t drive, stay home and learn.
Then I realized—Indonesia’s system doesn’t mandate driving classes or teach people driving etiquette. In contrast, in the States, I had to get a permit just to begin. That alone was already hard. Then I had to complete a certain number of supervised driving hours and take lecture classes that actually taught us proper driving behavior.
I’ve noticed something in Indonesia: people really don’t care about emergency vehicles. Many won’t move at all. Worse, when there’s traffic, they’ll follow behind the ambulance or fire truck to avoid being stuck.
Traffic is another issue—it’s almost impossible for emergency vehicles to get through when the roads are jammed. And that’s something I’m genuinely sad about. How many lives could have been saved if people weren’t so selfish? How many people have died just because no one wanted to move?
It’s a broken system, and I don’t think it’ll change anytime soon unless people also shift their mindset. It makes me frustrated and angry to see how selfish people are on the roads—like they have no sense of urgency, even when someone’s life is literally on the line.
One day, it could be your loved one waiting on the other end of that traffic jam.