
Dagen H: The day Sweden switched to the right hand side of the road - philwelch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H
======
_delirium
It makes sense in retrospect, but I hadn't realized that (non-high-beam)
headlights are asymmetric, to direct more light away from the median, so would
have to be switched if changing sides. I guess the asymmetry isn't that
noticeable when driving, or else I just haven't been looking for it.

An illustration:
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Low_beam_light_patter...](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Low_beam_light_pattern_for_right-
hand_traffic.svg)

~~~
jgrahamc
When taking a British car onto continental Europe it was (is?) common to stick
special black stickers on the headlights to redirect the beams to avoid
dazzling European drivers.

e.g.
[http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/productid/36/Headligh...](http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/productid/36/Headlight_Beam_Deflectors.html)

~~~
jasonkester
Indeed, it's still required.

I spent a year driving my English Right-Hand-Drive car on the roads in Spain,
so I can sympathize with the Swedes and their worries about head-on
collisions. Until you get used to it, it's pretty nervewracking passing
oncoming traffic at 140kph and trying not to hit them while driving from the
wrong side of the car.

Good practice though. At this point I'm pretty much ambidrivestrous .

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btilly
My favorite detail is that on the day of the switch, the accident rate
dropped.

People probably were paying extra attention, and that more than made up for
the risk of people forgetting that today was the day.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
I imagine having most traffic off the road from midnight to 6am also impacted
that as well.

It also mentioned they lowered the speed limit 10MPH, which saw a reduce rate
of accidents as well for the two years until the raised the limit again.

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philwelch
Related to <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1529752>

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sandGorgon
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-
hand_traffic#Sa...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-
hand_traffic#Safety_factors)

I always believed that driving on the left-hand side was safer because, a
majority of the world's population is right handed. So, you want your good
hand on the wheel, when you are changing the radio or using your stick-shift.

Other than for legacy reasons, right hand driving is harder than left hand.
The easiest way to illustrate this is to learn to drive the stick-shift: it is
easier on a left hand drive car (with your left hand on the stick-shift)
rather than a right hand drive car

~~~
johkra
I don't think so, but I'm European and I've only learned to drive with manual
transmission and on the right side of the street.

I even think it's the other way around: Holding the wheel is easier than
changing some setting on the radio, because the latter needs "fine motor
skills" whilst the first does not. It's preferable to use the hand with better
"fine motor skills" - which in case of right-handed people is the right hand -
for more complicated tasks.

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chmike
Belgians do it differently. Cars switch side first, then trucks switch a week
later.

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Dementati
How does that work out? Won't the cars and the trucks run into each other?

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danbmil99
Japan has parts that are left side and other parts are right side.

Saint Thomas VI is all left side driving but all the cars have the driver on
the left. As someone said at the rental place, it's so "you can talk to people
on the sidewalk!"

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caf
They switched the other way in Samoa just last year:

[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-
pacific/2009/09/20099...](http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-
pacific/2009/09/200997231022247340.html)

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tamersalama
I love the logo. Simple and potent.

