Holiday Driving Chaos - Samoa

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Outcry as Samoa motorists prepare to drive on left.
Mon Sep 7, 2009 9:37am EDT.
The government has run a months-long campaign to educate drivers, and designated a practice lot. Monday and Tuesday have also been declared public holidays to get drivers used to the change. But it's when everybody goes back to work on Wednesday, that's the worry.

Samoa is about to become the first nation in nearly 40 years to switch the side of the road that traffic drives on, and the reasons are primarily economic.

The switch to driving on the left hand side of the road, which takes effect at 6 a.m. local time on Monday (11 a.m. EDT), is the brain child of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who said it would be more economical for Samoans to buy new and used cars from Pacific neighbors Australia and New Zealand.

But the change has sparked a public outcry, with opponents saying it will only cause more traffic chaos on the island's already dangerous roads.