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Religious leaders may rule on helmets
Source: Agencies |
February 22, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
INDONESIA'S leading clerics are considering a religious edict against riding a motorbike without a crash helmet to promote safety on the roads of the world's most populous Muslim country.
Such a fatwa would not carry a penalty for those who ignore it, but advocates said yesterday that making road safety a moral issue could be more effective than the law.
Helmets have been compulsory in Indonesia since 1988, but up to 30 percent of riders in cities still do not wear one. Even fewer wear them in rural areas.
The Ulema Council, an influential board of Islamic clerics, will consider issuing the edict after consultations with the Road Safety Association, motorcyclists, regulators and medical professionals, council general secretary Ichwan Sam said.
"As Islamic people, we have to protect our religion, our body and soul, our mind, our ancestry and our wealth," Sam said. "Wearing a helmet when riding a motorbike is included in the protection of our body and soul," he added.
According to the safety association, 23 of the 32 people who die each day in traffic accidents in Indonesia are motorcyclists.
Edo Rusiyanto, an editor and association member, said it had recommended the fatwa in the hope that bikers in the nation of 235 million people who do not heed the law would listen to religious leaders.
Such a fatwa would not carry a penalty for those who ignore it, but advocates said yesterday that making road safety a moral issue could be more effective than the law.
Helmets have been compulsory in Indonesia since 1988, but up to 30 percent of riders in cities still do not wear one. Even fewer wear them in rural areas.
The Ulema Council, an influential board of Islamic clerics, will consider issuing the edict after consultations with the Road Safety Association, motorcyclists, regulators and medical professionals, council general secretary Ichwan Sam said.
"As Islamic people, we have to protect our religion, our body and soul, our mind, our ancestry and our wealth," Sam said. "Wearing a helmet when riding a motorbike is included in the protection of our body and soul," he added.
According to the safety association, 23 of the 32 people who die each day in traffic accidents in Indonesia are motorcyclists.
Edo Rusiyanto, an editor and association member, said it had recommended the fatwa in the hope that bikers in the nation of 235 million people who do not heed the law would listen to religious leaders.
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