It’s well known that there are certain streets in Jakarta where illegal street racing not only takes place but is tolerated by the authorities. These are not obscure spots far outside the capital either – one of the most infamous spots for illegal racing is the stretch of road in Jalan Asia Africa in front of Senayan City Mall, as can be seen in the video above.

It has been suggested that police allow the races to take place like Senayan, Kemayoran and Taman Mini in order to keep them contained and also because of, well, y’know, the bribes.

But it looks like the police have decided to use slightly different strategy to regulating illegal street racing – by essentially making it legal.

The Jakarta Traffic Police recently announced that they would look into accommodating illegal street racers by providing them with “facilities.”

“Illegal motorcycle racers in Jakarta needs to be dealt with, but not persecuted. So we will accommodate them by providing facilities. Because, when given facilities they can be monitored and we can see which ones have the potential to become national or even international racers,” said Jakarta Traffic Police Commissioner Risyapudin Nursin today as quoted by Kompas.

Risyapudin said the Jakarta Police would work with its partners to find a place or street that could be used for illegal racing starting in February. Once such a place had been found, they would study the implementation in terms of safety and security.

“The most important thing is that we can help channel young talents in the field of motorcycle racing,” Risyapudin said.

Some would argue that the most important thing for the police to do is uphold the law and protect public safety.

But y’know what? We’re actually with the police on this one. Young people are going to engage in dangerous illegal street races no matter what – why not have them do it in a place where they can do it as safely as possible, with supervision and quick access to medical attention.

In fact, a lot of people say that’s exactly the same reason why the government should take a harm-reduction strategy to illegal narcotics. People will use them no matter what, so instead of prosecuting users, the government should give them facilities where they can do it as safely as possible, with supervision and quick access to medical attention.

But somehow we doubt the Jakarta Police would ever take such a progressive stance towards drugs, unless it could help them develop a world-class Indonesian motorcycle racer somehow.

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