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Samoa passes right-to-left driving test
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Samoa passes right-to-left driving test
By KENI LESA,Associated Press Writer AP - Wednesday, September 9
APIA, Samoa - Samoans passed a major driving test Monday when the tiny South Pacific country became the first in decades to switch its traffic from one side of the road to the other _ with no accidents reported.
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Officials urged the public to stay vigilant, warning that the danger of crashes could increase in coming days if drivers become complacent before the new road rules become second nature.
After months of preparations, the early morning switch from right to left went without incident and in an atmosphere of national celebration.
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.
"All we want to see is how smooth it is and how safe it is and I think we've seen that this morning," one unidentified Apia resident told Television New Zealand. "I mean ... you see how cars are moving now, so to me it's good."
The government made the change to bring Samoa in line with Australia and New Zealand, where some 170,000 expatriate Samoans live and from where it is cheaper to import cars than from right-side driving countries in Europe, and the United States.
Cars in left-side countries have the steering wheel on the right, and vice versa. For now, Samoa will allow cars with steering wheels on both sides _ but all will drive on the left side of the road.
Critics accused the government of failing to adequately prepare drivers and had predicted traffic chaos and a rise in fatal wrecks.
Recognizing the risk, the switch was ushered in with a two-day national holiday to keep a lid on traffic and a three-day ban on alcohol sales to deter accidents. On Monday, police manned scores of checkpoints and warned drivers to keep their speed down.
Land Transport Authority chief executive Leasi Galuvao said the safety messages would continue for three months.
"The time of most concern is when motorists believe themselves adjusted to the new conditions and press the accelerator a little harder," he said.
Malielegaoi said the government had already widened roads, added new road markings and signs and installed traffic-slowing speed humps on key roads on the nation's two main islands of Upolu and Savai'i.
Despite much resistance and initially postponing the switch for more than a year, Tuilaepa said he was glad Samoa has finally done it.
Samoa is the first country in decades to switch the flow of traffic. Iceland and Sweden did it in the 1960s, and Nigeria, Ghana and Yemen did it in the 1970s.
The issue of bus operators with both doors and steering now on the wrong side has yet to be addressed, Tuilaepa said.
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