In Reply to: Son had to pay police bribe for riding posted by Ady on Saturday, 16. April 2011 at 23:05 Bali Time:
The usual bribe is around 50,000 in Kuta and less in other parts such as Ubud as low as 10'000. At 15, unlicensed he didn't stand a chance of getting off lightly. I can see the temptation of riding a bike at 15 in Bali after seeing many locals riding, some of the little buggers are no more than 10. However, More than enough people have made you aware of that fact it is silly for more than one reason. AS far as general safety. My experience, I've riden a bike many times in Bali, and even spent several days riding around the island. I personally didn't find it the least bit dangerous, and was very surprised on the courtesy of most drivers. Saying that it's not for the inexperienced, but once you understand the "unwritten" road rules, it's very safe. Personally I think it's less dangerous then riding on Australian roads. Australian drivers can be arseholes when it comes to bikes. They go out of there way to cut you off. Also a bike accident in Bali normally amounts to not much more than a few scratches and a damaged bike, whereas in Australia it's always more serious, even death. If you ask australian bike accident victims who's fault it was, they'll almost always tell you it was the other driver, and I believe them. In bali, I think people are generally more aware and looking out for one another. If your son wants to ride a bike however, I'm not sure the age resrictions, It may be 16, but a genuine Indonesian tourist license can be had from the denpasar police Station legally for around 270,000.