There are fewer than 20,000 vehicles on Samoa's roads, and about 4,000 are currently right-hand drive. The changeover met with fierce opposition. Critics claimed that the government has failed to consult the public on the change or conduct any feasibility studies. In April last year an estimated 18,000 people - about 10% of Samoa's population - demonstrated against the change.
Opponents argued that confused drivers will forget which lane to pull into and pedestrians will look the wrong way. "Cars are going to crash, people are going to die - not to mention the huge expense to our country," said lawyer Tole'afoa Solomona Toa'iloa, who headed a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Traffic analysts testifying in court agreed that more accidents were likely to occur. But the Supreme Court rejected the legal challenge. Local bus owners are furious about having to either buy new vehicles or convert their old ones so passengers don't have to step off into the middle of the road.
New signs directing drivers to keep left have been removed, and directional arrows on the road have been painted over to point the wrong way. But critics insist not enough has been done to prepare drivers. Samoa's Chamber of Commerce estimates that it will cost at least $300m (£185m) in direct and indirect costs. Source: BBC, 6 September 2009. tinyurl.com/ljyo42
Opponents argued that confused drivers will forget which lane to pull into and pedestrians will look the wrong way. "Cars are going to crash, people are going to die - not to mention the huge expense to our country," said lawyer Tole'afoa Solomona Toa'iloa, who headed a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Traffic analysts testifying in court agreed that more accidents were likely to occur. But the Supreme Court rejected the legal challenge. Local bus owners are furious about having to either buy new vehicles or convert their old ones so passengers don't have to step off into the middle of the road.
New signs directing drivers to keep left have been removed, and directional arrows on the road have been painted over to point the wrong way. But critics insist not enough has been done to prepare drivers. Samoa's Chamber of Commerce estimates that it will cost at least $300m (£185m) in direct and indirect costs. Source: BBC, 6 September 2009. tinyurl.com/ljyo42
This is really interestins as it appears on the surface that the change will definately cause more accidents. In Sweden they made the switch and there was a short term drop in traffic accidents:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/14/driving_on_left/index.html
However, as with all things the reason for this change is complex and debated
(was it an increase in risk perception? Was it a reduction in people driving? Was it related to the significant public campaign? Were the road signs important?)
Still, it's not a given that the change will increase accidents.
Tristan Cooke
Human Factors PhD Srudent
University of Queensland
Sweden was an interesting case as its cars were already left-hand drive, making overtaking prior to the change a little too sporty for everyone. So driving on the right was actually safer from a sight-line point of view, and of course for crossing the (long) border to Norway. The extensive preparation would have helped a lot too.
ReplyDeleteIn Samoa's case, an early dip in accidents might be expected as people are extra cautious, but if the majority of cars are still left-hand drive, I'd hate to drive there once people let their guards down, especially on roads with only two lanes. It might be an idea to have a Government sponsored scrapage scheme to stock up on right-hand drive cars, but what a pain for bus and coach owners!