In Reply to: Very scared posted by walpurgus on Thursday, 23. August 2007 at 13:55 Bali Time:
I have seen a few accidents, all have involved motorcycles. It would seem that the speeds attained are somewhat lower compared to Australian roads and the potential for a fatal accident is less as a result. It's relatively recent that there has been a strong focus on wearing helmets and I have heard that there were a number of nasty head injuries prior to this and that includes tourists.
I saw an Aussie couple riding around with a young kid on their bike and a few days later I saw them all hobbling about covered in betadine. I saw a tourist traversing a busy intersection on her motorbike, simultaneously texting on her Phone!
When I was younger I rode bikes all over Bali and I now consider myself very fortunate to have not come unstuck. I wore with pride a singlet that had "I rode through Denpasar and lived!" on it.
I wouldn't do it now, stick to taxis etc. but having said that I did accept a short ride as pillion a couple of weeks back so I could get to an ATM. Got my rox off for sure but I honestly can't recommend it as your main way of getting around unless you are very familiar with the way that traffic works and what the road conditions are like.