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The change came into force following a radio announcement at 5.50 local time (16:50 UTC) which halted traffic and an announcement at 6.00 (15:00 UTC) for traffic to switch from the right to the left side of the road. Samoa thus became the first territory in over thirty years to change which side of
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in April 2008 and road signs reminding people of the change being vandalised. The motor industry was also opposed to the decision as 14,000 of Samoa's 18,000 vehicles were designed for right-hand driving and the government refused to meet the cost of conversion. Bus drivers whose doors would be on
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said that the purpose of adopting left-hand traffic was to allow
Samoans to use cheaper right-hand-drive vehicles sourced from Australia, New Zealand or Japan, and so that the large number of Samoans living in Australasia could drive on the same side of the road when they visited their country of
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On 18 April 2008 Samoa's parliament passed the Road
Transport Reform Act 2008. Tuisugaletaua Avea, the Minister of Transport, announced that the switch would come into effect at 6:00 am on Monday, 7 September 2009 - and that 7 and 8 September 2009 would be public holidays, so that
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In order to reduce accidents, the government widened roads, added new road markings, erected signs and installed speed humps. The speed limit was also reduced from 35 to 25 mph (56 to 40 km/h) and sales of alcohol were banned for three days. Prayers were said by the
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for an accident-free changeover and Samoa's Red Cross carried out a blood donation campaign in case of a surge of accidents.
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and two ports servicing mainly inter island ferries for vehicles and passengers between the two main islands, Upolu and
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A plan to move to driving on the left was first announced by the Samoan government in
September 2007. Prime Minister
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However the decision was controversial, with an estimated 18,000 people attending demonstrations against it in
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island, paved highways reaching most parts of the two main islands, one main port in the capital
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the wrong side of the road due to the change threatened to strike in protest of the change.
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origin. He aimed to reduce reliance on expensive, left-hand-drive imports from
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residents would be able to familiarise themselves with the new rules of the road.
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it maintained the German practice of driving on the right-hand side of the road.
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includes one international airport situated on the north west coast of
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the road is driven on, the previous most recent to change having been
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487:"Outcry as Samoa motorists prepare to drive on left"
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309:ā change to driving on the right in Sweden in 1967
303:ā change to driving on the left in Okinawa in 1978
165:Night departure at Faleolo International Airport
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414:"Chaos predicted as Samoa changes driving side"
191:2,438 to 3,047 m (7,999 to 9,997 ft):
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264:Congregational Christian Church of Samoa
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544:. AFP. 7 September 2009. Archived from
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464:"Samoa announces driving switch date"
7:
416:. Associated Press. 7 September 2009
513:"Samoa drivers brace for left turn"
511:Dobie, Michael (6 September 2009).
334:"Samoan cars ready to switch sides"
462:Jackson, Cherelle (25 July 2008).
359:"Samoans jittery over road switch"
357:Chapman, Paul (8 September 2009).
243:Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
195:Apia Faleolo International Airport
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332:Bryant, Nick (7 September 2009).
236:occupation by New Zealand in 1914
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211:Airports - with unpaved runways:
632:Federated States of Micronesia
181:Airports - with paved runways:
34:Local bus in the capital Apia.
27:Overview of transport in Samoa
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955:Cities, towns and villages
919:2021 constitutional crisis
95:516 km (321 mi)
89:350 km (220 mi)
83:866 km (538 mi)
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778:Northern Mariana Islands
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42:Coastal island highway.
18:Transportation in Samoa
894:New Zealand occupation
468:The New Zealand Herald
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1092:Deputy Prime Minister
884:Tripartite Convention
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613:Transport in Oceania
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1123:Western Samoan pound
578:at Wikimedia Commons
1000:Silisili (mountain)
548:on February 9, 2011
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909:Independence
899:World War II
889:German Samoa
724:Dependencies
710:Cook Islands
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550:. Retrieved
546:the original
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965:Earthquakes
852:Archaeology
657:New Zealand
365:. Melbourne
282:(1974) and
276:South Yemen
230:had been a
1226:Literature
1210:FaŹ»a SÄmoa
1125:(historic)
1077:Parliament
1064:Ministries
552:2009-09-07
522:2009-09-07
497:2009-09-07
420:2009-09-07
369:2009-09-08
343:2009-09-07
314:References
226:From 1900
150:Salelologa
123:Ports and
1204:Ethnicity
1143:Transport
1042:FaŹ»amatai
1036:Elections
960:Districts
938:Geography
627:Australia
207:1 (2005)
177:3 (2005)
144:Mulifanua
93:unpaved:
1304:Category
1289:Category
1251:Religion
1241:Proverbs
1221:Language
1059:Military
1014:Politics
642:Kiribati
517:BBC News
386:Archived
338:BBC News
290:See also
286:(1972).
278:(1977),
274:(1978),
171:Airports
157:Airports
118:islands.
71:Highways
65:Highways
1280:Outline
1189:Culture
1157:Society
1106:Economy
1026:Cabinet
980:Hotspot
844:History
788:Tokelau
692:Vanuatu
491:Reuters
363:The Age
307:Dagen H
284:Nigeria
272:Okinawa
125:harbors
116:Savai'i
87:paved:
81:total:
59:Savai'i
1256:Sports
1179:Cinema
1169:Anthem
990:Rivers
862:Crisis
763:Hawaii
687:Tuvalu
216:total:
186:total:
1236:Music
1194:Dance
970:Fauna
835:Samoa
682:Tonga
672:Samoa
662:Palau
652:Nauru
296:Samoa
280:Ghana
228:Samoa
201:APW)
112:Upolu
51:Upolu
1216:Flag
950:Bays
758:Guam
715:Niue
637:Fiji
255:Apia
138:Asau
133:Apia
114:and
55:Apia
1136:.ws
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