switching left... on the road

At 6.00am yesterday, the drivers of Samoa switched from driving on the right side of the road to the left side. This was mandated by the government to bring Samoa in line with Australia and New Zealand, where it is cheaper to import appropriate sided vehicles (steering wheel and driver on the right) compared to those from Europe and the United States.

Also, while the population of Samoa is nearly 185 000, some 170 000 expatriates live in Australia and New Zealand.

Here is some raw vision from Associated Press (associated article)


The last time countries made the switch was Iceland and Sweden in the 1960s, and Nigeria, Ghana and Yemen in the 1970s.


(except Samoa is now left/yellow - from BBC News magazine)

There is an interesting article in Wikipedia that explains the origin of why particular countries drive on their sides. Fascinating!