Samoa switches to driving on left

Samoa direction changes causes jams

Samoa has become the first country since the 1970s to change the side of the road on which cars are driven.

At 0600 local time (1700GMT) sirens sounded and drivers were told to move from the right side to the left.

The government brought about the change to bring Samoa into line with other South Pacific nations.

A two-day holiday was declared to ease traffic as people got used to the new rules, which faced legal challenges from groups which predicted chaos.

At 0600, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Lupesoliai Malielegaoi addressed the country on national radio.

"After this announcement you will all be permitted to move to the other side of the road, to begin this new era in our history," the New Zealand Herald quoted him as saying.

Emergency vehicles and government workers were reportedly stationed at every junction and corner but witnesses said the change happened smoothly.

Barbara Dreaver, a correspondent for New Zealand Television, said the scene was "just amazing" but that traffic was flowing "fairly well".

"There were hundreds of people who had come out, just to watch this happen," she said.

Cars are going to crash, people are going to die - not to mention the huge expense to our country Tole'afoa Solomona Toa'iloa Samoa lawyer Samoa drivers brace for left turn

"We've had the odd squealing of brakes as people suddenly realise that they should not be on that side of the road, but for the most part it's been very smooth."

The move survived a late legal appeal by the protest group People Against Switching Sides (Pass), who argued that it would bring mayhem to the highways and byways of this remote South Pacific nation.

Bus drivers have also protested that their doors will now open on the wrong side, in the middle of the road.

But the Samoan government introduced the change to end its reliance on expensive, left-hand drive imports from America.

It hopes that Samoan expatriates in Australia and New Zealand will now ship used, more affordable vehicles back to their homeland.

To minimise the chaos, a two-day national holiday has been declared to keep cars off the road, and prayers have been said at the country's churches in the hope of blessing the changeover.

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