Traffic chaos in Semiyak Bali

Traffic is getting worse in Seminyak no doubt, but yesterday I witnessed pure madness on Jl. Seminyak.

Sitting eating a plate of Indonesian food at Ocha’s (formerly Warung Roadkill), I watched the same half dozen cars and 20 motorbikes, squirm in the middle of the intersection at Jl. Dhyana Pura. What had happened was one of the northbound lanes was closed due to roadworks. People were ignoring the fact that entering the intersection left them with nowhere to go, creating a traffic jam. Usually over here, cars wiggle past each other, at the narrowest part of the road, neither giving way. This time however, a ‘bule’ is a Suzuki Katana had wandered into the middle of the intersection, totally blocked on all sides. With the ‘wiggle room’ effectivley closed off, the whole street went nowhere for 15 minutes. I finished my meal, and sat there sipping my teh panas (hot tea), still nothing happening. Finally the ‘bule’ manages to find a crack, and get out, followed one by one, by the rest of the traffic.

You can draw all kinds of analogies from this event. People don’t think past the next 5 seconds, people are pushy, whatever. I think the main problem over here is education, or lack of. In California, when a set of traffic lights goes out, people treat is as a 4-way stop. Each car comes to a stop, first car to stop, is the first car to move, followed by the next car, etc. Without any outside intervention, the intersection keeps working. Here in Bali, its pure mayhem, with people trying creative ways to get 4ft in front of the next guy.

The road work that is really screwing everything up, is getting finished. A crew of guys went down Jl. Dhyana Pura today around 10am and laid asphalt outside Bintang supermarket, in the foot wide trench that was there. They are doing much needed drain repair, but it has led to traffic jams. The nasty, dusty jams are between Oberoi and Jl. Dhyana Pura.