Samoa: All Change!
 

Samoa switches to driving on the left

To be more in lne with other South Pacific countries nad not to have to rely on American vehicles, Samoa has switched to driving on the left. at 6am, drivers had to change sides of the road. there is a two day holiday to relieve traffic.

Now, having moved from a country that drives on the left to a country that drives on the right, I have contemplated that at some point there might be changes to get the whole world in synch. But I assumed it would end up with everyone driving one the right. Guess there will always be two ways of doing things, because America will never switch :lol: (hell they won't even go metric).

and the other thing that suprised me, is that I'd thought that if a country ever changed over, there would be a period of a few hours where all non-urgent traffic was stopped, and then resumed again on the other side. not an "ok now everytone cross the median at the same time and then carry on" instant. Apperently it all went ok, though :eek:

On a related note: all Samoans who are asked, "How's it hangin'?" are legally required to answer "To the left."

Switching over to driving on the other side of the road is a really big change. They should ease into it gradually.

;)

I think there should be a period of time, say 2 weeks or so, when they can drive on either side, then the formal change should be implemented.

I can't find the article now but there was something on the BBC News site about the possibility of bringing the UK into sync as well.

Ah, so that's what's going on in Ohio, then

Just found this on incredimazing.

This new rule made me laugh for a number of reasons, but mostly because I doubt most of the locals give a rats arse which side of the road they drive on.

It would be a great investment to own a wrecker/tow service there now. :)

I must ask...

Do the Samoans now redesign their whole driving world? Drive-thrus? Curbside check-in at the airport? Parking meters? How about lane markings such as arrows and stop lines? (you know, the white bar that means Stop Here, but which is widely ignored?)

I imagine the local McDonalds is a mess this morning.

:lol2:

To celebrate this law, the PM did a lap of the country in his car.

How long did that take? 30 min? :D

When working in Nigeria, years ago, a guy swore the the newspapers had a post that said was changing sides of road.
To avoid confusion, the trucks would change one day and cars the next.

Is it civil disobedience to protest - and still drive on the right?

Gives a whole new meaning to ‘thou doest protest too much’.

You right-laners are always causing trouble. :haha: