Driving In Bali: Should it just be left up to the locals?

Before we jump into whether driving in Bali is a good idea, what the risks are and how to mitigate them… Let me give you a little background on myself:

I'm a 28 year old entrepreneur from the UK who’s visiting Bali/Indonesia for the first time. Its been long since proven that entrepreneurs have a higher than average propensity for risk and as a serial entrepreneur I've been taking “risks” for the last 14 years. So when I first thought about driving in Bali this concept didn't really faze me. But then again why should it? On paper Bali is only a little bit smaller than the London Metro area, with about 1/3 of the population. Surely driving over there is going to be an absolute pleasure?

It’s probably worth noting at this stage my driving record. I'm a confident driver and have been driving since 2005. I learnt to drive in and around the small town of Buxton (UK), which is actually surrounded by some of the most dangerous roads in Britain. After failing my first test for speeding, I successfully passed second time with only a couple of minor issues. Since then I've crashed once at high speed and once at low speed, but I've had a clean licence since I passed. Most of my driving experience has been in the UK (est. 150,000+ miles), but I've also driven in the USA (est. 600 miles) & Ireland (est. 400 miles). On top of this “normal” driving experience, I have also driven a film crew car during the Gumball 3000 which involved single-handedly driving 1,600+ miles over two days.

Like any good entrepreneur, I'm not really a risk taker. I'm a calculated risk taker.

That might sound like some business bulls**t, but it’s true. Actually a Forbes article put it best;

Risk takers bet it all on one roll of the dice. If they fail, they fail spectacularly and in such a way that they DON’T live to fight another day. They literally go out in a blaze of attempted glory.

Now as we’re talking about driving in a 3rd world country, I don’t really like the idea of going out in any sort of blaze. So I thought I should probably do some research to see if driving in Bali is actually a sensible idea.

The general consensus is that driving in Bali was a very bad idea:

A quick search brings up multiple TripAdvisor & LonelyPlanet posts all of which suggest that driving in Bali is a very bad idea, with most people strongly advised getting a car with a driver. But as all these comments were from 2010–2011 I decided these were probably “outdated views” and ignored them. After all Uber wasn't even around back then! Maybe the roads will be clear as everyone’s using UberPool now. :)

That said, it wasn't very easy to find any positive reviews of driving in Bali. That was until I came across this great blog post by an artist from Singapore who in 2014 drove a old Suzuki Jimny around the island. Although Teoh acknowledged the chaotic & some times dangerous driving conditions. He also seemed to love the freedom it gave him; allowing him to get off the beaten track, stop wherever he wanted to paint and see the real Bali. — (This sounded just what I wanted. Minus the painting bit… I can’t draw to save my life).

Get a driver for only a couple of £/$ more!

One point that’s hard to ignore is that it’s only a couple of £/$ more per day to rent a car with a driver. Not only does this method remove all accident liability from yourself. But as most comments point out, you are able to sit back, take in the scenery and get a guided tour of the island. I also read suggestions that the better tour guides help you get the best deals and avoid costly scams (but where’s the fun in that).

The problem with this option was that I had already booked multiple hotels around the island for a couple of days at a time. This slightly random schedule with vastly differing amounts of driving required each day made pre-booking a driver complicated. Without just paying for a driver to be sat by the pool some days while also paying him $20 USD extra per day to stay locally, I couldn't really find a simple way to do it.

Now I'm sure with the amount of drivers available I would be able to arrange a local driver as and when I needed one. But I didn't really want to leave this element of the trip up to chance / local negotiation when we had no real option other than to accept their offer.

Hiring a car: Think 3rd party liability

After weighing up all the options I decided (much to my Mother’s annoyance/trepidation) that I would hire a car for the trip. This left me with two options. Book with a local hire company for around $18–30 USD per day or go with the international rental companies at over double the price for no additional benefit!

Guess which option I chose? That’s right, after a bit of searching I found that there are absolutely loads of car hire companies on Bali (It can’t be that dangerous to drive after all). Even though they were not the cheapest, I decided to book with BaliCarFinder.com after reading their recommendations and liking their “modern” website.

This should be where this section ends, and I start talking about what it’s actually like to drive around Bali… Unfortunately not.

After stumbling across the insurance definition for the hire car. I quickly realised that although my total excess was only $300 USD, the insurance only covers damage to the hire car and up to $350USD of a 3rd party vehicle claim. (This is actually one of the more generous policies… some local hire companies I've seen have a process of haggling in the event of an accident and only will cover the hire car!)

Think about that for a second. If you end up in an accident with a luxury car and it’s deemed to be your fault (which if you’re a foreigner it will be), you will not only have to pay the $300 excess but also have to stump up nearly all the cost of the repairs / replacement of the 3rd party car. If you can’t afford that… there is a possibility that you will reside in a jail until you can!

I put the issue of 3rd party liability to the hire company, who said:

In theory yes, but in practice any decent car has insurance in case damage (no matter if fault or no-fault). We are in business for many years and standard 3rd party liability was enough to handle almost every case of 3rd party damage.

As the word “almost” didn't really fill me with much confidence, I decided to cancel my booking (which was at no cost to me and okay with them).

Remember this scenario gets a whole lot more complex / stressful / expensive if the accident involves a death. Just read up about Jake Drage or Joshua Terelinck. Both Australian citizens who were blamed for fatal accidents while in Bali and ended up serving Jail time. In Joshua’s case he ended up paying $4k USD to the deceased family, but it was reported that that his family ended up paying over $38k USD in legal fees while he spent a couple of months in a Jail.

But my travel insurance covers personal liability. Doesn't it?

No. This was my first thought. My travel insurance covers me up to £1m GBP if I cause any damage to property or injury to any persons… as long as this wasn't while I was operating a mechanically propelled vehicle (among other things)!

But before you think is just my policy. I've subsequently searched with no avail to find a travel insurance policy that will cover this eventuality. — I guess they think this sort of thing is usually covered under car insurance!

So driving in Bali should be just left up-to the locals then?

Well according Vina, a local Indonesian writer - Yes. But she doesn't even think that’s safe any more. In an article written earlier this year she sets out the case that due to dangerous a mix of unqualified drivers, lack of law enforcement and outright corruption, no driver is safe… especially a foreign one! She explains that the Bali court system seems to have adopted the morbid policy of “whoever dies wins”. That is unless you are a foreigner, as you will loose. Twice.

This all said, my view is that why should a few “worst case” stories stop anyone from experiencing the world and having an adventure.

Law abiding people get into car accidents every day in the UK. Some of which unfortunately end up in fatalities. Neither party left the house thinking they would be in a fatal accident, but within a split second lives of both parties are changed. It’s a calculated risk all drivers take.

How to change the risk of driving in Bali into a calculated risk

Firstly understand the local driving rules / suggestions (i.e. don’t drink drive even though its legal, avoid driving at night, etc.), know what’s likely to happen in the event of an accident and realise you will always be in the wrong. It’s also worth watching a couple of YouTube videos as this will help you to mentally prepare for the mayhem of driving on Bali’s roads.

I would also suggest that you hire a vehicle from a Andre Sewatama. This company is run by a German expatriate who’s been renting cars in Bali for 45 years. He offers rental cars with only 100 euro ($115 USD) excess and offers the maximum 3rd party liability insurance available in Indonesia ($7,600 USD).

On top of that I suggest you take out suitable Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI). This will cover you for any costs above the liability insurance offered by Andre. If you live in the EU I would suggest Better Safe as they provide cover for up to $1M USD including your legal defence costs and zero any excess for only $6 USD per day!

After all this I hope this insurance is never needed. But if the worst does happen, you can rest in the knowledge that you have enough legal & financial protection to get you through it. Even if you are currently in a Bali Jail.

The difference between risk takers and calculated risk takers is the difference between failure and success.

Next week I will arrive in Bali and get behind the wheel in Indonesia for the first time. Here’s to hoping that my next post doesn't involve too many Bali jail stories.