Road accidents are an all too common occurrence in Bali, which is hardly a surprise really considering the way people drive, the states of the roads, the lack of road markings, lights and signs, the number of stray animals in public areas, and the fact that people can still ‘obtain’ their drivers licences. I believe that the biggest culprit of most nasty accidents is the unwritten road code that is so prevalent in developing countries: “BIGGEST is boss”. The pecking order runs something like: buses (particularly tourist ones, ironically!), trucks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles and, way, way at the bottom, pedestrians. This sadly childish mindset means that the poor common folk (the majority of Bali) the victims. Perhaps no matter how long I live in Indonesia this kind of driver arrogance will never cease to amaze me.
A connected road psyche I’ve witnessed on countless occasions is a public fascination with accidents. An accident scene generally attracts hordes of onlookers, morbidly eager to sneak a peek at the less fortunate whenever the chance arises. Apart from causing even more of a traffic build-up than the accident itself, the throngs of riders and drivers who pull over to get a piece of the gory action seem to do little to help—in fact few even offer.
I believe that any public fascination with gore is fuelled in the Indonesian media where the innocent public is constantly fed images of blood, guts and violence. Pick up any DenPost or check out the local TV news station—they’re screaming the stuff. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching and inhumane images I’ve ever seen were those of the victims of the Bali bombings, spread across newspapers and magazines for all to see—the more perverted, up-skirt style shots the better.
Rather than an ill-advised and backward anti-pornography law, campaigns against reckless driving and violent media images would surely breed a better social conscience …
