Just a couple traffic notes:
As I headed out Jalan Hangtua toward Renon this morning, a woman on a motorbike to my left moved into the lane to her own left, not noticing that there was an SUV coming up fast in that lane, though still a fair distance away. Instead of slowing down, the driver of the SUV honked his horn several times--the familiar warning here in Bali generally translated as "You're about to be run over if you don't move fast." Clearly, the woman was still unaware of the SUV. So did the driver slow down? No, of course not. He blasted on through, clipping the side of the poor woman's bike as he did so. Happily, she was able to maintain control as the bike wobbled and swerved. So typical of drivers here--especially those driving cars. It seems that the way to avoid an accident is by using the horn--or rather, hearing the horn and recognizing that it is speaking to you. Brakes are largely under-appreciated and unused.
After that incident, I pulled into the gas station to fill up my tank. Three of the four available pumps had a long line of motorbikes waiting, the fourth was servicing a single car. A car, however, requires far more time to fill than a motorbike, so when a second car pulled into the lot, the driver simply squeezed in between the lanes of motorbikes, expecting that people should pause in their progress toward the pump so that his tank could be filled. Strangely, the attendant decided that this was quite all right, ignoring the next in line and stretching the hose instead across the front of the lead bike in order to gas up the car.
Now, in America, I just don't think this would fly. In fact, I can guarantee that it wouldn't. Certainly somewhere between one and a dozen people would pipe up and shout "Hey, get in line, Asshole!" Right? But no, not here in Bali. Not only is the trespass tolerated, it is not even, for all appearances, noticed.
Am I missing some unwritten law? Cars go first?
A similar sort of thing will often happen in the Circle K or Minit Mart. A man will come in, wanting cigarettes or a lighter or pulsa, and walk straight up to the counter regardless of the presence of people waiting in line. And no one objects!
Go figure.
As I headed out Jalan Hangtua toward Renon this morning, a woman on a motorbike to my left moved into the lane to her own left, not noticing that there was an SUV coming up fast in that lane, though still a fair distance away. Instead of slowing down, the driver of the SUV honked his horn several times--the familiar warning here in Bali generally translated as "You're about to be run over if you don't move fast." Clearly, the woman was still unaware of the SUV. So did the driver slow down? No, of course not. He blasted on through, clipping the side of the poor woman's bike as he did so. Happily, she was able to maintain control as the bike wobbled and swerved. So typical of drivers here--especially those driving cars. It seems that the way to avoid an accident is by using the horn--or rather, hearing the horn and recognizing that it is speaking to you. Brakes are largely under-appreciated and unused.
After that incident, I pulled into the gas station to fill up my tank. Three of the four available pumps had a long line of motorbikes waiting, the fourth was servicing a single car. A car, however, requires far more time to fill than a motorbike, so when a second car pulled into the lot, the driver simply squeezed in between the lanes of motorbikes, expecting that people should pause in their progress toward the pump so that his tank could be filled. Strangely, the attendant decided that this was quite all right, ignoring the next in line and stretching the hose instead across the front of the lead bike in order to gas up the car.
Now, in America, I just don't think this would fly. In fact, I can guarantee that it wouldn't. Certainly somewhere between one and a dozen people would pipe up and shout "Hey, get in line, Asshole!" Right? But no, not here in Bali. Not only is the trespass tolerated, it is not even, for all appearances, noticed.
Am I missing some unwritten law? Cars go first?
A similar sort of thing will often happen in the Circle K or Minit Mart. A man will come in, wanting cigarettes or a lighter or pulsa, and walk straight up to the counter regardless of the presence of people waiting in line. And no one objects!
Go figure.
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