Drivers in Samoa will switch from one side of the road to the other

alpac · #1 08-24-2009, 07:20 PM

Pretty amazing. May be they should start with only the trucks first to see if it works.

Shifting the Right of Way to the Left Leaves Some Samoans Feeling Wronged - WSJ.com

APIA, Samoa -- Sometime in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, residents of this small Pacific island nation will stop their cars, take a deep breath, and do something most people would think is suicidal: Start driving on the other side of the road.

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noncom23 · #2 08-24-2009, 07:35 PM

Saw that. Any predictions on wrecks?

AzNMpower32 · #3 08-24-2009, 07:58 PM

That's such a bad idea......especially when you're switching to the wrong side of the road. Folks in Britain, Japan, OZ, and NZ need to just get with the game like everyone else.

Random point: I know the Mazda MX-5 my dad drives was designed in Japan because the handbrake is on the righthand side of the centre console

motordavid · #4 08-24-2009, 08:40 PM

Well, most of the more obscure Caribbean islands we have been to have the
usual drivers that pick any side of the road they choose, esp. outside of "town".
Normal island driving chaos...but, the Samoa situ is strange/politico "logic":
the PM wants a source for cheaper used/junkers from NZ/AUS. And, the current
cars have the left hand drive; not fun to drive when the roads are suddenly "right
hand drive" side, imo. Gov't at work, even in Samoa.

KWP1911 · #5 08-24-2009, 08:53 PM

It's going to be hairy for a while.

Bloody-Brit · #6 08-25-2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

That's such a bad idea......especially when you're switching to the wrong side of the road. Folks in Britain, Japan, OZ, and NZ need to just get with the game like everyone else.

Random point: I know the Mazda MX-5 my dad drives was designed in Japan because the handbrake is on the righthand side of the centre console

You forget South Africa, India, Pakistan, Malaysia etc. The article alludes to 30% globally being on the left side; which will increase as the fastest growing population is India.

Why change? It all works fine, except for those cheap manufacturers that cannot manufacture their cars properly for the right hand drive market; of which BMW is one. I would not buy a 5-series in the U.K. where the wipers are set to a left hand pattern; penny-pinching nonsense on a luxury car. Never noticed the handbrake on my Miata (here in the Sates) being on the wrong side.

Meiac09 · #7 08-25-2009, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloody-Brit

Why change? It all works fine, except for those cheap manufacturers that cannot manufacture their cars properly for the right hand drive market; of which BMW is one. I would not buy a 5-series in the U.K. where the wipers are set to a left hand pattern; penny-pinching nonsense on a luxury car. Never noticed the handbrake on my Miata (here in the Sates) being on the wrong side.

Late 90's S Class MB was built with RHD pattern wipers for the NA market...

I always thought Samoa had American roots... But I guess that even the USVI drive on the wrong side. And when the entire world, with the exception of one country and those that are heavily influenced it drives on the right, its the right side.

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