In Reply to: Bad Car Accident posted by feral in Bali on Wednesday, 24. June 2009 at 16:00 Bali Time:
By the sounds of it you were lucky!
Around 12 years ago when we first went to Bali, an experienced exporter from Bali to Australia, gave us a "do and don't" word document about Bali. A service he provided for those planning to use his services to freight back to Aus.
One of the things I vividly remember it saying was do not drive in Bali.
It said that "if you have an accident then it will automatically be deemed your fault... you are a foreigner and therefore if you weren't there the accident wouldn't have happened". It also said "if someone was injured you should get the hell out of there!"
Whilst I know this is probably over the top and alien to western thinking, the case mentioned is pretty close to the old freighter's warning.
The moral is always use a local driver. The toursist police only work in the major tourist areas.