A 22-year-old woman has been killed in a collision with a bus while driving in Bali’s Denpasar.
The tourist, who was driving a motorcycle, was killed as a bus attempted to overtake her while she was driving in the correct lane.
Police have confirmed that the collision took place on Jalan Sutomo in central Denpasar at around 8.45 am on Wednesday 24th April.
The woman, a tourist from Belarus, was driving a rental NMax in the left lane when a tourist bus attempted to overtake her on the right.
The collision occurred in front of the church.
Speaking to reporters, the Head of Public Relations for Bali Police, AKP Sukadi, explained: “Upon arriving at the crime scene, the bus driver overtook from the right and hit a Yamaha Nmax DK 3915 FCJ motorbike, resulting in an accident.” He confirmed that the tourists died on the scene from catastrophic head injuries.
AKP Sukadi said that there were no other factors at play at the time of the incident. Traffic flow was normal and the weather conditions good. The driver of the bus has not been taken into police custody following the incident.
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Tragically, this is not the first tourist death on Bali’s roads in recent times. Tourists are being advised to seriously consider whether driving in Bali is the right choice for them since just as many collisions are caused by the recklessness of fellow drivers as there are collisions caused by inexperienced tourists on Bali’s roads.
In fact, Bali is the second most dangerous place to drive in Indonesia, followed only by East Kalimantan. The number of reported collisions in Bali has doubled in the last 12 months, with more fatalities reported to the police and the media almost every day.
Tourists have been killed on Bali’s roads even when they have been following all the rules, wearing a helmet, signaling correctly, and adjusting to both the Indonesian traffic laws and the reality on the streets.
Tourists who wish to drive in Bali must have a valid international driving license that enables them to drive a motorcycle above 125cc.
Most car driving licenses in Australia, Europe, and North America include a license to drive a 50cc motorcycle.
However, the most popular rental motorcycles in Bali for tourists, like a Honda Scoopy and Max, are all above 125cc, meaning a normal international car driving license cannot be used; a specific motorcycle license must be held.
The reason why this is so significant is that in the event of a collision and injury resulting in hospital care or even death, health and travel insurance providers will not pay out a cent if the driver in question did not hold the correct licenses for the vehicle they were on, whether they are liable for the collision or not.
Time and time again, reports come through about tourists who have been caught in a collision on a motorcycle in Bali and have had to start a public fundraising campaign to cover their rapidly mounting medical bills after insurance providers refused to pay out.
While public transport options in Bali are limited there are thousands of taxi drivers, of both cars and motorcycles, available day and night to help take tourists to where they need to be.
It is advisable to travel by car at night and avoid long journeys on motorcycles and taxis that involve driving along busy highways, not because of the quality of taxi drivers but because of the often reckless behavior of fellow road users.
Tourists can hire private taxi drivers and online ride-hailing taxi drivers from companies like Grab, GoJek, and Bluebird.
Grab is working with the Bali Provincial Government to improve the quality of services and operations for tourists on the island.
