Shifting the Right of Way to the Left Leaves Some Samoans Feeling Wronged

[sports fan Matt]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125086852452149513.html?mod=yahoo_buzz

Thoughts?

[Elfy]

Makes perfect sense to me for them be driving on the correct side of the road ;)

[Moustacha]

It would be better in the long run to have every country in the world on one side of the road, but it's unlikely to happen since there's so many cars already on the road in the LHS countries. Then car companies wouldn't have to re-engineer cars to be able to export them to different markets, there'd be a greater choice in cars and people wouldn't get confused when driving in different countries.

[bodyharvester]

it doesnt matter which side of the road you drive on, if youre a bad driver you are a bad driver.

[cascade9]

Makes perfect sense to me for them be driving on the correct side of the road ;)

LOL, thats why they are moving sides. So you drive on the right, makes sense to me (stronger arm on the wheel during shifting).

That story does have a point though, Samoa is pretty scary to drive in, and changing sides is not going to help that.

[mxboy15u]

I have driven with people that live in the UK frequently when they would come and visit the states. I was always impressed by how they could naturally drive on our side of the road without any effort. I would think if I visit England that I would have much more trouble switching sides.

[Paqman]

I have driven with people that live in the UK frequently when they would come and visit the states. I was always impressed by how they could naturally drive on our side of the road without any effort. I would think if I visit England that I would have much more trouble switching sides.

I wouldn't say it requires no effort, but you do adapt within a couple of days. You have to concentrate a lot on things like making sure you turn your head the right way at first. If people seemed like they switched effortlessly it's probably because they'd done it before and had built up a bit of muscle memory. And since all the rest of Europe is LHD, we do get the opportunity.

It's always changing gear while turning that gets me, i'm so busy looking at traffic that I subconsciously move the wrong arm to change gears and whack it on the door handle.

[MikeTheC]

It's always changing gear while turning that gets me, i'm so busy looking at traffic that I subconsciously move the wrong arm to change gears and whack it on the door handle.

LOL!

Actually, I can't imagine having to shift gears in an intersection, either.

[Paqman]

LOL!

Actually, I can't imagine having to shift gears in an intersection, either.

Roundabouts can be fun, too. And the other thing i've been known to do is aim for the wrong lane when turning into an empty road. Yikes!