Bali expat confronts moped riders on footpath.Vid.

El_Goretto said:
He's talking to them very politely. Even the part where he talks in French to the French guy he is very polite.

And he has every right to take videos on the sidewalk, certainly far more rights than these people riding on it.
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Unless you have the authority to do so, standing in front of someones bike and restricting their progress is impolite. He clearly moves into the path of people to stop them. He doesn't have that authority - simple.
 
Vanhelsing said:
Unless you have the authority to do so, standing in front of someones bike and restricting their progress is impolite. He clearly moves into the path of people to stop them. He doesn't have that authority - simple.
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He's walking on the sidewalk. How is he wrong?

If I'm driving in my lane, and someone drives on the wrong side of the road coming face to face with me, am I suddenly wrong for blocking his path?

Funny, this example happened to me not long ago and I stood my ground:

After dropping off my kid to school, I was driving away from the school. The road is a 2-way street with 2 lanes on each side and no divider. Between the parked cars and the 2 rows of vehicles lining up to go into the school on the opposite lane, there was barely enough room for one car in my own lane.

I came face to face with a car going against the traffic, a driver dropping off the kids. I didn't move, I stayed in my lane and waited for him to merge back into his side of the traffic. That lasted a while and when his window finally came up to my window he started verbally abusing me for "preventing him from delivering the kids". My wife told him he was wrong for driving against the traffic and creating even more traffic jam, to which he responded with name calling, my wife responded in kind and that's when the driver came down from the car, ready to hit my wife (with his employer's kids in the back, mind you!). Thankfully, before I smashed his head in, a security guard intervened and pushed him back in his car.

I took note of his license plate and armed with a dashcam video, I made a formal complaint to the school. I was first met with the usual non-confrontational basa-basi that there's nothing they can do because the incident didn't happen on school grounds. I escalated to the principal who took action by inviting the parents to the school to discuss this matter and received a formal apology and assurances that it would not happen again.
 
Vanhelsing said:
His error lay in intentionally impeding the progress of others without the authority to do so. As you did, he should make a formal complaint and engage the appropriate authority as opposed to taking it upon himself.
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Have you seen the side of the sidewalk? By the simple act of walking on the sidewalk he is impeding their way, except he has a right to be there and they don't. He's not telling them to get off the sidewalk, he's not pushing them off the sidewalk, he's simply asking them why they are there and why he can't walk safely, after which he lets them squeeze passed him.

Also, don't get me wrong, one reason I made a complaint is because I had no other way to reach this driver. When he lunged at my wife, you bet I was ready to take matters in my own hands.
 
El_Goretto said:
Have you seen the side of the sidewalk? By the simple act of walking on the sidewalk he is impeding their way, except he has a right to be there and they don't..
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If you watch the video closely you see him intentionally move into the path of some riders as they try to go around him, he also places his hands on their handle bars. I agree motorcycles shouldn't be riding on the footpath, but to encourage his actions is misguided in my opinion and won't garner my support.

I would however support your right to defend your wife from someone who lunges at her.
 
Vanhelsing said:
If you watch the video closely you see him intentionally move into the path of some riders as they try to go around him, he also places his hands on their handle bars. I agree motorcycles shouldn't be riding on the footpath, but to encourage his actions is misguided in my opinion and won't garner my support.

I would however support your right to defend your wife from someone who lunges at her.
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Knowing how the mob street rules are sometimes in Indonesia, I wouldn't be as brave as him either. So I'm glad he's taking up the fight on my behalf haha
 
Just came back from walking up the narrow footpath of Jalan Uluwatu in Jimbaran to buy some things and being on the right side footpath had the usual up out of the traffic onto the foothpath motorcyles coming at me. While it doesn't make it right, I imagine the Bules feel that when in Rome do as the Romans do. I step as much as I can to the side to allow the motorcycles to go past but I do keep walking. Most of the "offenders" seem to take care so I haven't felt seriously endangered. I do notice that where they are further along the footpath and see me, many then just move back onto the road. I do make a point of walking in a straight line so I don't move into the path of a motorbike coming from behind.

I can't say I feel moved to try and re-educate locals about correct road use. For these confrontations to be effective I think it would need to be part of a campaign supported by local authority. I am not critical of the bloke who posted the video but confrontation can easily provoke an angry response and I feel he is putting himself at serious risk by acting alone in this way.
 
I'm tired of not being able to excercise what is my right here in Indonesia. Something as simple as walking on the sidewalk unimpeded and undisturbed by motorcycles is my right as a pedestrian .It is even in the Indonesian traffic law. When someone takes my rights away, you bet I'd fight for it. I don't need to change the whole ocean, just the one in front of me.
 
Yep, I guess some here need to refresh their driving license theory and look up what the definition and purpose of a trotoar is...
 
So at what point does someone pass the eligibility to be allowed to complain about an issue? Does an expat who has lived here 30 years and is fluent get to complain?
Or is this not limited to expats and you believe that no one should complain about motorcycles on sidewalks.....they should all report it to the correct authorities (ha ha).
I feel that many people on the forum admire Indonesians for standing up to clear wrongs but then criticize any foreigners who do so....even relatively politely. So wheres the line?​
 
Vanhelsing said:
Unless you have the authority to do so, standing in front of someones bike and restricting their progress is impolite. He clearly moves into the path of people to stop them. He doesn't have that authority - simple.
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I guess that standing in front of someone who is running after having stolen something in order to restrict his/her progress is impolite? Both stealing and driving/riding on the trottoar are illegal. Both are criminal offenses (the latter in case of a contact with a pedestrian) as per Indonesian law and obviously not authorized by any authority. It also definitely doesn't belong to Indonesian culture, so there are strictly no reason to be polite or patient with such people.

If I would be walking on the sidewalk and that an asshole rides it he'd better make sure that he doesn't touch me. If I am with family, especially with my kids, he has put himself in danger without suspecting it. I won't abuse him only verbally. I am reasonably confident that in such case, he may say that I am impolite and more. All these asshole riding on the trottoar needs a good slap round the ear.
I don't give a shit about being an "expat" or not. I have been here for almost 20 years and am fluent enough to let know that if I don't feel I am superior, I also don't deserve less respect than Indonesian. Respect means, among other things, respecting my rights as a driver, as a pedestrian or whatever. Unless authorized by a formal authority, riding my trottoar wouldn't go well if I need it to safely walk somewhere. I am not gonna go on the road. They will. Their behavior hasn't been authorized by any form of authority and they are not different from anyone stealing. Their attitude is also reproved by a number of Indonesian. Not all Indonesian show no respect for other's right, far from it.

They are not "progressing" or whatever, they are ENDANGERING the life of pedestrians and they must be stopped and told to get the fuck out of the way of those who have the RIGHT to be on the trottoar.
I am flabbergasted that some believe that only authorities should stop them. What's next? We should just call the cops when a wife beater or a rapist get into action? Sorry, I don't see it this way. In such case, I grab a club and give a taste of it to the wife beater. For a motorcycle riding the trottoar I intend to walk, potentially endangering me or anyone else, I won't club them but I'd sure tell them to get out of the way, and not in a polite way.

UU LLAJ is pretty clear and you should have a look at it to rethink your "impolite" bit.

Pasal 106
(2) Setiap orang yang mengemudikan Kendaraan Bermotor di Jalan wajib mengutamakan keselamatan Pejalan Kaki dan pesepeda

Pasal 131
(1) Pejalan Kaki berhak atas ketersediaan fasilitas pendukung yang berupa trotoar, tempat penyeberangan, dan fasilitas lain.
(2) Pejalan Kaki berhak mendapatkan prioritas pada saat menyeberang Jalan di tempat penyeberangan.
(3) Dalam hal belum tersedia fasilitas sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1), Pejalan Kaki berhak menyeberang di tempat yang dipilih dengan memperhatikan keselamatan dirinya.

Pasal 284
Setiap orang yang mengemudikan Kendaraan Bermotor dengan tidak mengutamakan keselamatan Pejalan Kaki atau pesepeda sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 106 ayat (2) dipidana dengan pidana kurungan paling lama 2 (dua) bulan atau denda paling banyak Rp500.000,00 (lima ratus ribu rupiah).
 
Anyway, beside the riders themselves, someone else is to be blamed and it's not the bule, it's DisHub. In many cities local authorities, either through the SatPol PP or the LLAJ cops have crackdown on trottoar misuse. In my city, which is plagued with macet, you would very rarely see motorbikes getting on the sidewalks. The reason is simple, whenever there is macet, the DisHub cops are out and definitely look for money from those who would be tempted to use the trottoar as a shortcut to macet.
 
Who could this person be, confronting the riders? Okay lets look at the facts........the anonymous person on the video speaks Bahasa, English and French......who do we know with these languages who was recently in Bali and doesn't like people riding/driving on the sidewalks.......hmmmmmm.....this doesn't seem to fit any one we would know I guess.
 
Daniel50 said:
Who could this person be, confronting the riders? Okay lets look at the facts........the anonymous person on the video speaks Bahasa, English and French......who do we know with these languages who was recently in Bali and doesn't like people riding/driving on the sidewalks.......hmmmmmm.....this doesn't seem to fit any one we would know I guess.
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It can't be @atlantis or those motorbikes would have gone flying off the sidewalk
 
I used to do this on a daily basis a few years ago. Back in around 2009 I had a daily one-kilometre walk to a busway terminal in East Jakarta and two or three times a week the road would be congested and so the motorbikes would take to the fairly narrow pavement. Their assumption was that I was simply going to move out of their way. Wrong. Fortunately, the pavement was fairly low in some places, so they could get back onto the road without too much hassle but in other spots they would have to dismount and ease their bikes down. Mixed reactions to be honest. Most people would move back on to the road before they reached me, a few gave me abuse in Indonesian, a few in English, a couple of them shook my hand and apologized, occasional thumbs up from motorcyclists on the road. A couple of people got quite angry but I think they knew deep down that they were in the wrong and went on their way.

I don't suppose I changed their habits or made them think about the rights and wrongs of riding a motorbike on the pavement but I still feel it was the right thing to do and would do it again tomorrow.
 
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