
Samoa switches to driving on left - bluesmoon
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8243110.stm
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riklomas
Just a warning, this article is from September 2009

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hugh3
It does seem a pretty random sort of subject, especially if it's actually "not
news".

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Rabidgremlin
I was on holiday there at the start of the year. Most of the cars are still
set up for driving on the right (driver sitting on the left). This makes it
hard to judge the where center line is, so people tend to drift over it!
Luckily the speed limit is 50km/h but it is still pretty "exciting" to be a
front-seat passenger, it feels like a continuous game of chicken :)

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dennisgorelik
It looks like it's not too late to switch back to right side and keep
importing used buses from the US :-)

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Rabidgremlin
Actually I think the plan is to be able to import cheaper vehicles from Japan,
Australia and New Zealand.

As for the buses in Samoa, they are truly unconventional and works of art:
[http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-
entries/spider415/2/125...](http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-
entries/spider415/2/1258606382/tpod.html) (see pics at the end)

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duck
And Ubuntu Lucid made people freak out about the change of sides for the
window buttons?

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alaithea
This makes me think of how small countries can (potentially) have the ability
to be so much more progressive than huge countries like the U.S. We can't even
get on the frickin' metric system.

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jeebusroxors
It's interesting they chose 6:00am rather than a less populated time. I think
my first instinct would be to make the switch at like 3:00am on a Sunday a la
DST, but I guess this way there was no avoiding it.

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alaithea
I think it would be best to do that sort of thing when you can prepare a good
chunk of your populace to really try it out. "Hey everyone, start driving on
the left on your morning commute tomorrow!" That way, you have a concerted
effort to do it right, and lots of people driving on one side or the other
would reinforce the behavior. That's all as opposed to having a few bleary-
eyed drivers in the wee hours potentially get a surprise.

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CWIZO
I come from mainland Europe where we drive on the right, and I was in the UK
couple of months ago, and was forced (due to the volcano) to drive from London
to Glasgow. At first it was all really wired and scary, but once I drove off
the rent-a-car parking lot onto a road where there ware other cars it was
easy. My point is that other cars help you if you "suddenly" have to drive on
the other side of the road. I did, however, drove a car with the steering
wheel on the right side, so that might help (unlike here where the driver sits
at the edge of the road).

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bosch
I've always wondered why everyone can't drive on the same side of the road?
That would make automobile production much more efficient. Is there a certain
reason England decided against driving on the left side of the road?

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pkulak
They do drive on the left...

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bosch
I actually meant the right... with the rest of Europe on the other side,
they're the odd ones out.

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robin_reala
We have no direct road links with the rest of Europe. Even the Channel Tunnel
has no road: to take a car across you drive onto a train and off it at the
other end.

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cameronmccloud
In my final year Theoretical Physics exam we were asked the question: If
Ireland switched from driving on the left to driving on the right, what effect
would this have on the Earth's rotation?

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ritonlajoie
"Bus drivers have also protested that their doors will now open on the wrong
side, in the middle of the road."

OK that is a good point .. Good luck to them !

