Here's an article which I read that I thought may be of interest to some (especially those who ride motorbike or drive themselves while in Bali).
New Traffic Rules in Bali
Starting from Friday, 26 January, 2007, simultaneously, the drivers or riders of any vehicle, two wheels and four wheels vehicles in Bali, should switch on the lamp of their vehicles in the afternoon. The program is called Safety Riding Program. The decision made by the policy maker because from previous experiences, there were a lot of traffic accidents in Bali. Some of those accidents caused death.
The decision will be implemented in all over Bali island, include Buleleng regency. The implementation in Buleleng regency will be implemented under management of Buleleng Chief of Police Resort, AKBP Syamsul Huda. The police conduct convoys together with people in Bueleng, including military, government officers, civil servants, students, and other element in Buleleng. The convoys are conducted around and out of the city to socialize all the people in Buleleng about Safety Riding, the new police program.
The Safety Riding program will be implemented forever. There is no time limited for that. Nowadays, at the beginning, the police's program is to do socialization to the public, to all riders in Buleleng, to let them know, understand the reason, and implement it in their daily life, every time they ride their vehicle. When the Cheif of Traffic Section in Buleleng, AKP Made Wartamana, asked about the punishment given to the riders who do not obey the new program, he said that for the beginning, there is no punishment for such riders; they will be given explanation about Safety Riding Program. It is the job of policemen to do explanation and make them understand the new program.
The safety riding, as what explained by AKP Made Wartamana, actually has four aspects. The first one is switching on lamp of vehicles while riding in the afternoon, the second one is the use of standard helmet, then the use of appropriate rearview mirror, and the use of left traffic lane.
The use of standard helmet program started several months ago. The riders should use helmet that can save the head from any impact if the riders get in accident. The standard helmet type should be one that cover the left, right, and back sides of the head. The face may be covered by the component of the standard helmet, a plastic made that is usually called kaca helm in Balinese. Besides used for safety, that kaca also functions to avoid dust during the journey.
Rearview mirror functions as mirror to see other vehicles behind our vehicle. Some of the teenagers in Buleleng, especially the boys, replace the original rearview mirror of their vehicles. Instead, they use modified rearview mirror that useless, cannot used to give appropriate view of other vehicles behind them. They modify their rearview mirror just for fun. They do not care whether they can see the other vehicles behind or not. If they want to know about the position of other vehicles behind them, they just turn their head and body backward while riding the motorcycle. They do not care that it may cause accident and danger their life and also other riders lifes if they are not careful enough.
One of riders of motorcycle, Luh Rani, who was from Seririt (about 25km to the west of Singaraja) and who would like to go to Singaraja to work, was stopped by the police near Banyuasri terminal. She was asked to switch on the lamp of her motorcycle. The police also examine her helmet and rearview mirror. Firstly, she was surprised to be stopped by the policemen; they did not ask her to show her driving license (Usually, when the policemen stop the riders, it means the policemen are conducting examination of driving license or identity card. But at that time it was not.) After getting explanation, she continued her journey to the work place. She had switched on the lamp of her motorcycle. She saw some of the other riders have switched the lamp of their motorcycle, but some have not yet. Maybe they did not know yet about the new program. She hoped the other riders will do the program, because it is good program to avoid the increasing number of accidents.