Bali wants to 'ban tourists from being able to ride scooters'

If you're planning a trip to Bali to enjoy warm summer-like nights, beach days, and cocktails by night while zipping about on a scooter, then we have bad news for you.

Indonesian officials intend to ban tourists from renting motorbikes after a string of incidents in which foreigners were caught flagrantly disregarding road rules.

According to Kompas, tourists have recently committed reckless driving, not wearing a helmet while driving, and even using fake plates.

As a result, Bali governor Wayan Koster has revealed he will now push through new rules to ban tourists from riding scooters at all.

Instead, those who want to zip down Jalan Kayu Aya (or whichever other road they fancy) will need to rent a car.

"As tourists, [you should] act as tourists, using the vehicles prepared by travel agents, instead of roaming around with motorbikes, without wearing T-shirts and clothes, with no helmets, violating [traffic rules], and even without a licence," Koster said, as per Kompas.

"So if tourists have to travel, travel using cars from travel agents.

The Balinese official said the police on the island are aiming to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The move comes as travel to the island starts to ramp up after more than two years of missing foreign visitors.

And, as tourists from Australia, the United Kingdom, the US, and around the world start to flock back to Bali in droves, the time is now to make things safer for those visiting.

Koster said: "Why now? Because we are currently tidying up, [as] during the Covid-19 pandemic we couldn’t have possibly done that because there were no tourists."

To take things one step further, Koster is calling on locals to report tourists who are doing the wrong thing while visiting the Island of the Gods.

"I want to convey to the Balinese people that if you find violations committed by foreigners, tourists, whatever form they take, let alone insulting state institutions, insulting Balinese culture, insulting Balinese people and various other bad practices, you can immediately report them to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Tourism Office and the Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja (local police)," Koster said.

Koster's move comes days after an Australian expat was spotted losing it at local police who pulled her over in Canggu for riding her scooter without a helmet.

In the clip, the policeman can be heard saying in Indonesian: "We have rules."

Also speaking Indonesian, she claimed her helmet had been stolen the night before.

"I’ve been here for 23 years," she protested, before switching to English and really losing her cool.

"Don’t touch my things," she shouted as police appeared to confiscate her motorbike.

She was lambasted online for her 'audacious behaviour, Coconuts Bali reported.

Featured Image Credit: Vincent Gerbouin/Pexels. Alesia Kozik/Pexels.

Topics: Travel, Australia, World News

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist