Indonesia's public transport perils

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Title – Indonesia’s public transport perils
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 18th January 2007

When travelling to far flung parts of the world the sometimes oppressive feeling we have of being out of our depth and comfort zone is often appeased when you board a plane or other form of transport. These are familiar environments for you and you feel you better understand them, then the world just outside their door.

But this can be a false sense of security. As this article highlights, transport systems in many developing countries across the world are not able to invest as much as we expect transport companies and governments in the UK to do. The strict regulation we see at home that is always the first point of investigation after any kind of accident, simply does not always exists as comprehensively in the developing world.

In Indonesia 'serious incidents' within the transport system occur almost every week, but we don’t always hear about them unless foreign tourists are involved. But their regularity is quite frightening. But taking some simple common sense measures can reduce the risk you face; the most straightforward is not to put sticking to your schedule ahead of your safety and research goes a long way.
By attending our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety and Awareness workshop it allows you to have a better understanding of the culture of the country you are visiting, with this information you will travel with added confidence, reduce the culture shock and expand your comfort zones. We also examine personal safety issues and topics such as Travel Equipment requirements and Transport Options. Choosing where, when and who to travel with, reduces the risks you face significantly.

Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us on Facebook. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.