Samoa provokes fury by switching sides of the road

The pace of life on the Pacific island of Samoa may be slow but mention the topic of transport and you are likely to get a quick and fiery response. The usually placid public is up in arms over government plans to force motorists to switch to driving on the left hand side of the road.

It will be the first time a country has attempted to switch sides in almost four decades and has presented the island with huge logistical problems. As well as staging the largest demonstrations in the nation's history, opponents have warned the change will be an unmitigated "disaster".

The country's drivers have used the right-hand side of the road for more than a century, like their close neighbours in American Samoa. However, unless they can convince the government into a complete back down, motorists will be forced on to the other side of the road at 6am on Sept 7.



The switch is the brainchild of Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, the Samoan Prime Minister. He hopes that by changing sides, the country will be able to put an end to the importation of costly left-hand drive cars from the US and that the 250,000 Samoans who live in Australia and New Zealand will send over British-style right-hand drive cars to their extended families.

In an attempt to give Samoans practice at driving on the right, Sept 7 and 8 have been declared national holidays and a test track has been created next to the National Soccer Stadium.

However, the normally sedate public is up in arms over the change. Protesters have set up a pressure group – People Against Switching Sides (PASS) – which has since turned into a political party that aims to depose the prime minister at the next general election. PASS also unsuccessfully sued to block the switch, claiming driving on the left would infringe on the constitutional right to life. One of the prime arguments was that buses – including those for schoolchildren – will be picking up and dropping off in the middle of the road.