# Switching Sides - Samoa Drives on the Left



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Samoa makes historic driving switch to the left *
7 September 2009
Agence France Presse

Sirens wailed in Samoa early Monday to give drivers the signal to start driving on the left-hand side of the road as the Pacific island nation became the first country to switch sides since the 1970s.

There were no early reports of accidents as drivers stuck to reduced speed limits after excited Samoans flocked to the roadsides to witness the historic changeover to driving on the left.

Shortly before 6:00 am (1700 GMT) radio stations carried the order for drivers in the nation of about 180,000 to stop their cars on the roadsides.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi gave instructions over the radio for drivers to shift their cars to the other side of the road, and about 10 minutes later emergency services' sirens signalled the all-clear for Samoans to start driving on the left.

Workers toiled through the night to finish painting arrows on roads in urban areas to remind drivers which side to drive on.

Drivers took great care in the first hours of the changeover but authorities warned accidents were likely once the initial vigilance wore off.

A lot of commercial vehicles were off the roads after Tuilaepa called a two-day national holiday to launch the changeover and alcohol sales have been banned for the first three days of the switch.

Tuilaepa says changing sides to be in line with Australia and New Zealand means some of the 170,000 Samoans living in those countries -- which already drive on the left -- will be able to send used cars home to their relatives.

Cars would become cheaper as a result and more people in rural areas could get vehicles to help develop their land, he argues.

Opponents of the switch, including the People Against Switching Sides (PASS) movement, had argued Samoans were inadequately prepared for the switch and necessary road improvements had not been carried out.


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