The struggle to overcome traffic congestion: A study of social interaction and effects on deviant behavior of motorcycle riders

Abstract

Background: Motorcycle riding as a means of daily transportation in Southeast Asia, especially Jakarta, Indonesia, manifests the struggle to use the road. This struggle - associated with congestion, irregularity, and lack of control - can lead to physical harm or material loss. Studies on deviant behavior related to motorcycle use mainly discuss motorcycle gangs and traffic violations. This paper intends to explicate how the context of this struggle informs the different meanings of the deviant behavior of motorcyclists in daily traffic life. It employs concepts of innovation and ritualism, learning, harm, visuality, and secret deviance to shatter the prevailing understanding of motorcyclist traffic behavior. Methods: This study chooses T.B. Simatupang Street, one of the busiest roads in Jakarta, as a research location. A mixed method is used to examine the context of the struggle, first qualitatively by utilizing visual data collected through (a) direct video recordings on the road and (b) aerial drone video recordings. Both recordings captured images of motorcyclist behavior considered deviant and can cause harm, such as stopping illegally, clamoring while cutting lanes and other vehicles, and slipping between two automobiles. Then quantitatively, it conducts a survey to collect data on motorcyclists' experiences. Included in the survey were questions with images captured from the direct video recording footage to collect responses toward motorcyclist riding behavior. Findings: The survey findings show that responses toward images of motorcyclist behavior - concerning harm - show a lack of understanding of driving safety and traffic rules, and some consider it as just the daily routine of motorcyclists. Conclusion: Therefore, the visuality of motorcyclist traffic violation is learned through innovation (driving recklessly) or ritualism (daily habit) as a struggle that is ironically visibly secretly upheld by fellow motorcyclists. Novelty/Originality of this Study: This study offers a novel perspective by framing motorcyclists' behavior in Jakarta's traffic as a form of adaptive struggle rather than mere deviance or rule-breaking. It uniquely utilizes visual criminology to argue that what is often seen as traffic violations may be better understood as contextual adaptations to urban congestion, thereby challenging prevailing interpretations of motorcyclist behavior.