traffic deaths in the past 5 months

[Git]

Bali- reports that 222 people have lost their lives on Bali's roadways in the past 5 months, underlining the tragic consequences of failing to follow traffic rules and drive carefully on the Island's roads and streets........................................... .......


Anyone else afraid to hit to roads in bali each time you need to get somewhere? I am................................ Been in alot of places on this planet but bali drivers are the most insaine! :shock:

[Ipanema]

Hi Gina

No, I am not worried about hitting the road in Bali. I find riding a scooter quite easy around Bali except for Denpasar. When going into Denpasar I get a taxi. I find the rules I have been explained to me work very well and as long as you are going slow most accidents can be prevented.

I do agree however that many people do not follow the rules and I find the traffic lights confusing as they allow two lanes to go on a green light into the one, hard to explain but I know when it first happened to my I said, 'that just shouldn't happen'.

I was talking to my partner last night on chat and he said there was a motor bike accident out the front of the internet cafe. He went and checked it out and said a tourist hit a local, the tourist was speeding. The tourist had broken hand, cuts on his foot and face and the local just had damage to his bike.

I think a lot of the contributing factors are tourists maybe with a little too much alcohol (any amount of alcohol when driving is to much) a little too much speed (anything over 20 kmp around Kuta Legian) and unfamilar with the roads. Then there is the normal amount of accidents with that much traffic and traffic jams on the roads.'

I can fully understand people who do not want to drive/ride in Bali but I just hope the people that do, know how to ride a bike and do not just 'buy' a licence and get on and off they go.

I haven't driven a car yet but that will come when I have the need.

[Roy]

http://www.balidiscovery.com/message...ge.asp?Id=4574

For the full story.

[froggy]

Wow, I find that number incredible...... Without anybody jumping my ass, i will admit Im lucky not to have been part of that figure :oops: the total damage is kinda funny though 70 something thousand,, scooters are cheap..... I will certainly be more aware and responsible next time, I dont like my head split open like a watermelon....or anyone elses.... enough said......

[mimpimanis]

I was very wary on a bike, aware of my vulnerability. I may follow the rules and drive slowly but that won't stop another idiot ploughing into me. I feel much safer in a car but I'm doing so much more driving now that I am not surprised at the number of deaths. The rules - what rules???? Most Balinese buy their SIM and have no idea of the rules of the road and what is safe and not. They seem to be in such a rush to get wherever-that all sense goes out the window.

[BaliLife]

I think motorbikes in bali are very dangerous for the reasons already noted.. Nobody follows any road rules.. That said, a car can also be dangerous, but the odds obviously favour a car.. Last week 3 people were killed in Denpesar when a truck hit a car..

Even though you know you're almost flirting with death when on a motorbike, I still enjoy it.. It's liberating to feel the wind hitting your face (before an oncoming truck does)..

Ct

[froggy]

Also of considerable mention is the fact that the "helmets" required are a complete joke. I wonder how many deaths were contributed to head injury due to the piss poor "dare i say the word quality" of these things, or not wearing a helmet at all..... Now that would be an interesting# to know..

[Git]

When I am here in Calif. The many accidents I have been in all were NOT my fault(not joking here,seriously) I am a verry carefull driver,but it does not help when you have people not following the rules (or yapping on the cell phone and or drunk).This applies for anywhere you drive,not only Bali. But Bali drivers win a prize for insanity!!!!!!! The Worst Tailgaiting I have ever witnessed in Bali- driving on the opposite side of traffic flow(against traffic) only in bali-passing on dangerous mountain roads (blind curves) only in bali-speeding on dirt shoulders not meant for driving only in bali................do i need to say more. :roll:

When I was doing homeopathic volunteer work in North Bali (lovina) I witnessed many many many motorbike accidents limping into the clinic for stitches,It was a normal occurance.
And the horrible stories about past deadly :( accidents on that main highway in LOvina-My god is it worth it?I am not talking about tourists,I am speaking of the locals (Lovina at that time right after the first bomb had "0" tourists)......................................... ..
It was also the first time I witnessed a boy that was "stoned" as punishment,he came into the clinic badly hurt,needing some sewing on his face.I though that went out in midevil days?
:|

[BaliLife]

Gina,

Your signature says to ask you anything about homeopathy and you've now made a couple of references to your work in this field, so I make the assumption you're reasonably proud of your affiliation with the practice..

You seem pretty dedicated to it. Just curious what your views are on the following statement which has much backing it:

"Claims for efficacy of homeopathic treatment beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific and clinical evidence"

So is it true belief that it works, the money that suckers pay or the cult like embrace that draws people to the practice?

Ct

[Sanurian]

None of the above surprises me at all.

So-called "helmets" are generally just a joke and even when they're not, have you noticed that most riders don't even strap them on properly? (They sometimes become useful for scraping splattered brain remains off roads, if they can be found, that is.)

...Compared to the same period in 2007 the evidence is that Bali's roads may be increasingly dangerous.

(Bali Discovery Tours) From my observations, it's not a matter of "maybe", more like definitely!

Only last night I was driving home along the By-Pass road in Sanur and spotted a local motorbike rider bearing down behind me at break-neck speed. There was a gap between me and the car in front of less than one metre, (no exaggeration), and the fool took it! Nearly caused me to crash into the other car and the other car nearly lost it on the median strip. Now, I don't usually resort to "road rage", but I was so incensed at this person's actions that I chased him to the next set of traffic lights. They were red and unusually, everybody actually stopped. The idiot was right next to me and I berated his stupidity, was about to get out of my car to do something else and he took off like a bat out of hell. Lucky for him is all I can say.

I can't entirely agree with Tina's theory:

...I think a lot of the contributing factors are tourists maybe with a little too much alcohol (any amount of alcohol when driving is to much) a little too much speed (anything over 20 kmp around Kuta Legian) and unfamilar with the roads. Then there is the normal amount of accidents with that much traffic and traffic jams on the roads...

Certainly some drunken tourists contribute to accidents, but I doubt very much that they represent anything like a major contributing factor. I would go as far as to say that a lot of accidents involve drunken and/or stoned locals with little or no consideration for the safety of others. And they're just the ones that are over and above some "sober" road-users who suffer from the same lack of common sense and basic consideration for others.

My pet hates driving around here for many years include unlicensed children on motorbikes, (and, believe it or not, occasionally cars), and people who drive around at night with their lights turned off.

Some time ago, the government introduced a new rule that motorbikes are supposed to have their lights on from mid-afternoon. There was a lot of confusion regarding that, maybe something to do with a definition of when "mid-afternoon" is supposed to begin. As a result, there was a sort of amnesty for a while when police would simply caution "offenders". I hardly see any motorbikes these days with their lights on as prescribed so can only assume that the "rule" has been overridden (pardon the pun), or simply ignored because it's seen as being too inconvenient and wears out your headlight quicker.

Who gives a stuff about "safety measures"?

:shock: