Top 5 driving tips

Top 5 driving tips for bali

Over the christmas period, I had a holiday in Bali and a large part of it was spent driving round the island. Now I’ve done plenty of driving in Indonesia however it turns out, going round sleepy old Rote on a motorbike is quite a different experience to driving a car all around Bali so I thought I’d share some wisdom with any volunteers thinking of driving a car round Bali:

1) When there is a single, unbroken, white line in the middle of the road and a sign depicting overtaking with a large red line through it: that means absolutely no overtaking..... that is of course unless you really want to in which case that is okay.

2) Overtaking manoeuvres should only be done when you can see the road ahead is clear, blind corners and hills you can’t see over the top of are excellent places to do so. If a car does come the other way mid-manoeuvre, remember you can always swerve back into the correct lane regardless of if there is already a car there so long as you hit your horn hard enough.

3) When using full be headlights, always be aware of the potential of dazzling other drivers. To ensure you achieve this, they are best used when facing oncoming traffic. Remember, your headlights can reflect into drivers’ eyes in their rear view mirror or wing mirrors so always be sure to have those lights on when behind someone.

4) Remember that the dividing line in the middle of the road dividing the two lanes is simply a guide and is not intended to be taken literally; the best driving position is to ensure you straddle this.

5) It is important that you should always leave a safe stopping distance between you and the car in front, especially if it has been raining. The reason for this is so that people can overtake you and swerve in front of you into this space, presumably because where they are going is far more important than where you are trying to get to.


If you can’t remember all of these, just stick with “when in doubt, hit your horn!”