JAKARTA - Indonesian authorities recorded a sharp drop in road accident fatalities during the 2026 Eid al-Fitr homecoming season, with the Health Minister crediting coordinated security operations for the result even as he warned that drowsy motorcycle riders on arterial roads remain the single biggest safety risk.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin made the remarks at the Kalikangkung toll gate in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday, March 24, where the national police chief, the coordinating minister for human development and culture Pratikno, and the transport minister had gathered to formally launch the return-journey one-way scheme.

“Alhamdulillah, thank you, Minister, thank you, Chief, the number of traffic accidents has dropped significantly during this year’s Eid homecoming (mudik) period,” he said, as quoted by Indonesia’s state-owned agency Antara.

National Police Traffic Corps chief inspector General Agus Suryonugroho reported on March 21 (the Eid day itself and the ninth day of Operasi Ketupat 2026) that fatalities had fallen by 27 percent and accidents by around 3.5 percent compared to the same period in 2025. 

These gains were recorded even as the peak outbound day on March 18 saw 270,000 vehicles leave Jakarta through toll gates, up 4.26 percent from the 2025 peak.

“Because drowsy and fatigued drivers are a major cause of accidents and a serious health and safety issue,” he said, recommending that long-distance drivers stop to rest every three hours.

He added that motorcycle accidents are heavily concentrated on arterial roads rather than toll roads, and pointed to a KAI programme that transports motorcycles on train carriages (up to 200 per carriage) as a measure to reduce motorcycle traffic on more dangerous roads.

On Tuesday, National Police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo formally launched the arus balik one-way scheme, running from the Kalikangkung toll gate at KM 414 to the Cikampek Utama gate at KM 70, which is the reverse of the outbound one-way system used during the Eid homecoming peak. 

Traffic beyond KM 70 toward Jakarta will be managed with separate traffic engineering measures to prevent bottlenecks at the capital’s entry points.