An Australian man could be detained by Indonesian police for two months without charge over a motorbike crash that killed a woman who was riding with her daughter.
Geraldton man Jake Drage, 23, is in police custody in West Java and is being assisted by consular officials, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says.
West Java police on Friday said Mr Drage could be held for up to two months without charge while they fully investigate the accident.
Traffic officer Indra Darmaputra said the victim's family had produced a letter saying they didn't want the Australian charged.
But that didn't close the investigation.
"A settlement letter can't abolish a crime, it's only a factor for leniency before the court," he told AAP.
"Operationally, we must work based on the law."
The officer was not authorised to discuss the possibility of bail.
Mr Drage's mother Tiena Drage posted on Facebook on Thursday that the Australian Embassy had said her son hadn't been formally charged or arrested.
"They are just `keeping' him for now," she wrote.
"The embassy staff will visit him tomorrow mainly to see how he is being treated and his well being.
"Will know more then."
Ms Drage has told local news website Everything Geraldton about the events before her son's accident on Monday.
"He was on a motorbike, behind a little truck," she said.
"They were facing up a hill and the truck came to a complete stop.
"Jake was concerned the small truck might roll back on top of him.
"There were no lines or markings on the road at all.
"He's nudged his head and the front of the bike out a small amount, perhaps a foot, to try and see if it was safe to pass the stationary truck.
"All of a sudden a motorbike with two people on it was there and clipped Jake's bike.
"The bike was being driven by a 16-year-old girl, and her mother was on the back not wearing a helmet."
The woman died the next day in hospital.
Ms Drage arrives in Indonesia on Saturday when she will begin speaking with lawyers.
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