Russian tourists and other foreigners on the popular island of Bali may be completely banned from renting motorcycles. Such a ban, according to the Indonesian press, plans to introduce the governor of the island Wayan Coster. The decision comes amid a huge number of incidents involving foreign tourists on motorcycles, massively violating traffic rules.
“Under the proposed rule, foreign travelers will no longer be able to rent motorcycles. Instead, foreign tourists will only be allowed to hire drivers through travel agents. Tourists will not be allowed to rent motorcycles. This rule may come into force in the near future,” the Governor said.
The authorities of the island consider it necessary to tighten the rules due to the huge number of accidents. From February to March alone, 171 tourists were detained due to traffic violations – tourists drive without helmets, without a driver's license and with fake numbers.
However, it seems that not everyone in Bali approves of this decision. Especially those who rent motorcycles and live off of it. However, they focus not only on their ruin. “The ban will only create more problems for the Balinese and especially for rental companies that rely on foreign tourists. Forcing tourists to rent cars with drivers will only exacerbate the island's traffic problems,” said one interviewee. He states that a smarter solution to the problem of “restless tourists on motorbikes” would be “tightening the requirements for their rental and applying them uniformly”, as well as “regular checkpoints and strong law enforcement.”
For For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The tattoo artist named the most terrible and dangerous places on the body for applying ink.”