Samoans adopt the Left

[tooheys]

It would seem that in Somoa it has been decided it is no longer right to drive on the right, but right to drive on the left.

The change just took place, can you imagine the chaos. Insurance companies will be cringing, police working overtime and cars weaving all over the place. And the buses haven't been upgraded, you still get out on the right 

Would be fun to watch though. But there was some planning, a three day ban on alcohol sales 

Tuesday, September 08, 2009 » 05:34pm

With excitement and apprehension, Samoans started their engines and pulled their cars onto the left side of the road for the first time on Tuesday morning.

The controversial switch occurred at 6am (Samoa time) after a live radio announcement from the country's prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who championed the change.

'After this announcement you will all be permitted to move to the other side of the road, to begin this new era in our history,' he told his people.

But this not before he scolded those who had fought against it and warned people against driving illegally.

'There are some of you who ruined the signs. This is not good. Look, you know what makes sense, do not drive if you are 15 or 16. Only those over 21 should drive, and don't drive if you are sleepy, drunk or just had a fight with your wife,' he said.

Keni Lesa, editor of the Samoa Observer, said it was 'totally bizarre' driving to work on the left.

'It just felt so wrong.'

Hundreds of people, driving and on foot, had congregated in the main street of Apia to watch the spectacle.

'It was amazing, people everywhere lining the streets, horns going off, bells ringing. There was a really fun, festival atmosphere.'

He said police were out in force, as were road workers, government workers and Red Cross volunteers, to ensure the switch went as smoothly as possible, and so far there had been success.

'We haven't heard of any major accidents. People are being very careful, driving very slowly and with seat beats too, many for the first time,' Mr Lesa said.

'They have no choice of course. They've got the cops breathing down their necks at every intersection.'

The switch, marked by a two-day holiday and a three-day ban on sales of alcohol, follows years of planning and protest.

The prime minister backed the change, saying it was time to be better aligned with Australia and New Zealand to encourage vehicle exports to Samoa from the many nationals living there.

But opponents have fought it fiercely, saying it is pointless, dangerous and being poorly executed.

More than 20,000 people took to the streets in a protest march, 200 chiefs signed a petition, and the anti-switch movement, PASS, unsuccessfully launched a law suit to have it overturned at the last minute.

Dozens of bus drivers are still threatening to strike over the change, which forces them to relocate doors to the other side of the bus, and there have been murmurings that some villages won't allow left-side traffic to pass through.

'It really remains to be seen how smoothly this will go, but so far so good,' Mr Lesa said.

[ponnie]

Saw this on the news yesterday. I'm so glad I'm not spending my holiday there right now  . Would most likely end up in a hospital.

[joelyboy911]

It never seemed like a very good idea to me.

[cameron1991]

New Guinness World Records entry:

Worlds largest destruction derby! 

[Andreas]

I really wonder if the additional vehicle exports from Australia and New Zealand will bring more money than the cost of the switch to the other side of the road...