-[Do^' zui] -- Re: In Samoa, thay ddo^?i la'i xe ho*i tu*` le^` Pha?i qua le^` Tra'i

Trong ba`i na`y co' no'i Samoa is the 1st country in 40 yrs
to switch, dza^.y tui ddo^' xu+' na`o la` xu+' da~ switched
40 na(m truo+'c (not Sweden 42 years ago nghen).


On Sep 11, 6:39 am, Kèo Chín Thủ <keochin...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Wow, Amazing, Amen !

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/in-samoa-drivers-switch-to...

September 8, 2009, 9:44 am
In Samoa, Drivers Switch to Left Side of the Road
By Richard S. Chang

If you thought it was tough going back to work this morning, imagine
having the added mental burden of suddenly learning to drive on the
opposite side of the road.

That’s what will happen Wednesday when the citizens of Samoa return to
work after a two-day holiday, imposed for the sole purpose of helping
the country switch from driving on the right side of the road to
driving on the left.

The switch officially began Monday at 6 a.m. This is from The
Associated Press:

As the 6 a.m. deadline approached, Police Minister Toleafoa Faafisi
went on national radio to tell drivers everywhere to stop their
vehicles. Minutes later, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
broadcast the formal instructions for drivers to switch sides.

When drivers resumed their journeys, horns honked, sirens wailed and
church bells rang. While there was some hesitation, traffic soon
flowed again with guidance from police as hundreds of onlookers who
lined streets in the capital, Apia, clapped and cheered.

Samoa is the first country in 40 years to switch driving sides. One
reason is that Australia and New Zealand drive on the left, and it is
cheaper to import cars from those countries than from the United
States and Europe.

Cars in Australia and New Zealand have their steering wheels on the
right side of the car, as in Britain. For now, the Samoan government
will allow cars with steering wheels on either side. The bigger issue
concerns the country’s buses, whose doors are mounted on the right
side, which means passengers have to board from the middle of the
street.

Interestingly enough, almost 42 years ago to the day, Sweden did the
same thing, except it went from the left to the right — and spent
around $120 million (not adjusted) on signs and advertising to market
the switch.

There was even an official name. It was called Dagen H, or H Day (the
H stood for hogen, which means “right” in Swedish). From Time
magazine:

Once Parliament decided to switch, Swedish bureaucracy mobilized with
terrifying efficiency. Psychologists made studies of drivers and
pedestrians; traffic engineers surveyed Sweden’s 70,000 miles of
roadway from Malmo to remotest Lapland. Thousands of new signs and
traffic lights were ordered and every home, hospital and prison
received manuals detailing the 107 basic European road symbols that
would replace the helter-skelter Swedish markers. To make sure foreign
workers and visitors got the message, the Commission on Right-Hand
Traffic printed pamphlets in nine languages from Portuguese to Serbo-
Croatian.

In the final, frenetic days before H-day, the new system was explained
in the press, demonstrated on film, discussed on radio and TV, and
extolled by singing commercials. Stockholm’s N.K. department store
reported a run on men’s shorts emblazoned with a big H, and milk
containers sprouted slogans like, “Smile a little in the right-hand
traffic. We are all beginners.”

This photo shows a town in Sweden during the switchover on Sept. 3,
1967. And despite the visible mess, there were no serious accidents
and only a couple of minor fender benders.

.

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