Amid a spate of incidents involving foreign tourists on motorbikes violating traffic rules, Bali Governor Wayan Koster says he has plans to ban them from renting motorbikes altogether.
In a press conference at the Bali office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Denpasar yesterday, Koster said that, under a proposed rule, foreign travelers would no longer be able to rent motorbikes. Instead, international tourists would only be allowed to hire car drivers via travel agents.
“So borrowing or renting [motorbikes] would no longer be allowed. That may be implemented starting in 2023, or after the COVID-19 pandemic,” the governor said, adding that it was impossible to apply this rule during the pandemic due to the lack of tourists in Bali.
According to Bali Police, from February to March this year, 171 foreign nationals have been caught with traffic violations, with offenses such as driving without helmets or without driver’s licenses.
Foreign tourists are known to prefer renting motorbikes in Bali due to practical and economic reasons.
Yoga (not his real name), 37, who runs a motorbike rental in Denpasar, said that the proposed prohibition would only create more problems for the Balinese people and especially rental businesses who rely on foreign tourists.
“If the problem is unruly tourists on motorbikes, then the solution would be to tighten the requirements for them to rent and apply them uniformly,” he said.
“In addition to that, there should be regular checkpoints and strong law enforcement against traffic violators, both foreign and local.”
Yoga added that forcing foreign nationals to only rent cars would only exacerbate the island’s traffic congestion problems.
