I wrote last issue about mad drivers and crash-victim voyeurism—attitudes that prevail in the psyche of many who are let loose on the roads in Bali. Perhaps I’m telling you nothing new. But, for me, what is even more curious is how many foreigners catch onto these bad habits and drive their SUVs like they’re on a freeway. I don’t realize that I’m doing it myself until I go back to New Zealand and find myself overtaking at a pedestrian crossing in a 50km zone or tailgating someone with a gracious 5cm gap. As the Balinese would say: “Bule milu milu tuung!” (“The whiteys follow without thinking!”) And many of us do. It’s hard not to, and, let’s face it, if you don’t you stick out like a (Balinese) dog’s balls!
Unfortunately, because driving here is more about surviving than following the rules, most people do what they can to get ahead of everyone else. After all, many locals have just bought their license without sitting a test. It makes you wonder why there isn’t a truckload of more dodgy things going down on the roads across the island!
Looking on the bright side, compared with countries like China and India driving in Bali is akin to a walk in the park. There are less animals, sellers, tractors (on the highways!), potholes, unmarked road works and other obstacles, and—at least in the case of China where taxi drivers are encaged with a Perspex shield—a lot less fist fights. I’d say that on the whole drivers here very rarely succumb to road rage—a chronic illness in many other more ‘time is money’ driven countries.
If you take the attitude that driving here is like playing a live video game, then you can smile and try to relax a little. You might have noticed that if you almost hit someone here, generally the response is a cheery, albeit slightly petrified … smile!
