The Indonesian island of Bali is banning tourists from renting motorbikes. The new rules—part of a crackdown on antisocial behaviour—come after a series of traffic offences by foreigners. Visitors will be encouraged to rent cars instead.
“As tourists, you should act as tourists,” Governor I Wayan Koster said. “This means using the vehicles prepared by travel agents, instead of roaming around with motorbikes, without wearing T-shirts and clothes, with no helmets, breaking traffic rules, and even without a licence.”
Over 170 foreigners have broke traffic laws between February and March, according to local media reports. Common offences include drunk driving, speeding, and the use of fake license plates. Bali’s economy is heavily reliant on visitors, with tourism contributing around 60 per cent of the island’s annual Gross domestic product. Many businesses were severely damaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. After international travel restrictions were eased, travel has rebounded. But locals are getting increasingly fed up with anti-social behaviour and hooliganism(流氓行为). “Why now? Because we are currently tidying up, during the pandemic we couldn’t have possibly done that because there were no tourists,” Koster said. 405 people died in Bali in 2020 due to motor vehicle incidents, the Bali Sun reports.
The ban will come into effect sometime later this year. The government have not outlined how it will be carried out. Not everyone is pleased with the plans. Dedek Warjana, chair of Bali’s motorbike rental association, said the authorities should act on specific violations (违反) instead of setting a blanket ban. “I visit Bali every year but if the motorbikes are banned I will not be coming back for sure,” wrote one Twitter user.
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