Bali TravelTraffic FinesScooter SafetyIndonesia PoliceTravel Advice
The Stop
Twelve hours into a Bali trip, a police officer waved over a rider on a main road he could not name and wrote out a fine for riding with a bare head. The officer looked at him with the weariness of a man who has seen a thousand Australians do the same. The rider held a valid Australian motorbike licence and had ridden most of his adult life, so the helmet was the only thing letting him down. The officer landed on 1.25 million rupiah — about 100 Australian dollars. The rider said he had no cash, which was true. The officer pointed at a Circle K thirty metres up the road and told him to go and buy two cartons of Marlboro Reds. Twenty packs, roughly 95 Australian dollars. He walked in, bought them off a young shop assistant who asked, 'are these all for you?' He explained they were for the police. He walked back to the roadside and was free to go.
The Barter Economy
This kind of roadside negotiation is familiar across Indonesia. A Japanese rider was filmed being stopped over his headlights and asked for one million rupiah. Another tourist, pulled down a side road near Ubud, was shown a piece of paper with a figure and walked away 200,000 rupiah lighter. The two-number system — what's written on the pad and what you actually pay — is common knowledge among expats. The variations are endless. Some officers push for a trip to court, hoping you'll pay to avoid the hassle. Others, like the one who stopped the writer, accept cigarettes as currency.
The Overdue Bill
Twenty years of riding in Bali without a helmet finally caught up. The record broke on a main road twelve hours into a trip, and the fine was settled with a cigarette run. That outcome is avoidable. Wear the helmet the rental company provides — Road Runner's, if that's the company — and keep your Australian licence and an International Driving Permit on you. Carry small denominations so you can pay the official fine on the spot, or choose to ask for the tilang resmi, the formal ticket, and accept the possibility of a court appearance. The officer suggested court or confiscation, neither appealing on the way to a tennis game at La Liga. Carry the right documents, wear the helmet, and keep small notes, and you're no longer the easiest target on the road.