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+--- Thread: Samoan move to Right Hand Drive (/thread-3952.html)
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - Rooboy - 2009-09-07
Samoa to be first country in almost 40 years to change the side of the road it drives on.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/8241911.stm
I love the comment here form the Samoan prime minister calling left hand drive "stupid hand drive".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news-and-views-from-samoa/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501196&objectid=10479290
Anyway the main reason it grabbed my interst is that i love that Japan is right hand drive. I grew up in Australia and now live and work in London - both sensible right hand drive countries. However due to proximity I holiday mostly in mainland europe. Everytime i try to cross the road I almost get myself killed from looking the wrong way. On my rare trips to Japan I don't get this problem
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-07
My mum was in samoa recently and she said that since she's lived there as a kid, they've put in a lot of new traffic infrastructure... Although, perhaps in the most ridiculous way possible.
She said there we're just traffic lights after traffic lights after traffic lights on one main stretches of road. Completely retarded shit like that... and I think she said it was an Australia company doing the construction? Apparently they'd do things like taking 1 week to dig a hole just because if they do it fast they get paid less. Which is very typical of Samoa, theres usually 3 - 4 people to do a job that 1 person normally does just to create jobs because it's such a small place.
Seriously though, they can import cars much cheaper this way. Is this a good or even necessary thing on such a small island? Maybe it will become overcrowded with cars? They may have to change the drivethru at the ONLY mcdonalds on the island... that's just... too intense. Could take years... haha.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - ropsta - 2009-09-07
"When America is sinking as a nation, why follow the American way. Most cars here are gas guzzlers and it is very difficult to import the petrol we need. We should definitely move to the left hand-side driving and get more economic cars."
LOL, What does the economic condition of America (the world) have to do with the side of the road they drive on?
The demand for gold is down in England, we should definitely incorporate kanji into the American language.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-07
ropsta Wrote:"When America is sinking as a nation, why follow the American way. Most cars here are gas guzzlers and it is very difficult to import the petrol we need. We should definitely move to the left hand-side driving and get more economic cars."it's just way cheaper for samoa to import cars from Aus/Nz/Japan. They're much closer and much more readily available.
LOL, What does the economic condition of America (the world) have to do with the side of the road they drive on?
The demand for gold is down in England, we should definitely incorporate kanji into the American language.
In fact one of the main reasons is the number of Samoans living in NZ is actually slightly higher than the number that live in Samoa. So a lot of them have family back in Samoa that they can send a car to that they've purchased in NZ. Under the old system they'd have to import one from America. Costly and there's no family advantage either.
It's not so much the economic state of America that affects the decision, rather, the economic state of Samoa.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - OsakaDan - 2009-09-07
mezbup Wrote:This could kinda explain why drivers in Auckland are so shocking!!! A lot of them used to drive on the other side of the road...ropsta Wrote:"When America is sinking as a nation, why follow the American way. Most cars here are gas guzzlers and it is very difficult to import the petrol we need. We should definitely move to the left hand-side driving and get more economic cars."In fact one of the main reasons is the number of Samoans living in NZ is actually slightly higher than the number that live in Samoa. So a lot of them have family back in Samoa that they can send a car to that they've purchased in NZ. Under the old system they'd have to import one from America. Costly and there's no family advantage either.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-07
OsakaDan Wrote:Auckland drivers are shocking cos this is a crazy city. The town planning sucks.mezbup Wrote:This could kinda explain why drivers in Auckland are so shocking!!! A lot of them used to drive on the other side of the road...ropsta Wrote:"When America is sinking as a nation, why follow the American way. Most cars here are gas guzzlers and it is very difficult to import the petrol we need. We should definitely move to the left hand-side driving and get more economic cars."In fact one of the main reasons is the number of Samoans living in NZ is actually slightly higher than the number that live in Samoa. So a lot of them have family back in Samoa that they can send a car to that they've purchased in NZ. Under the old system they'd have to import one from America. Costly and there's no family advantage either.
On a Japanese related note...
I always like to look at the dealership sticker of the original dealership it was sold at in Japan just to see if I can work out where it's from. Hahaha.
Mine says "Nanshin Subaru" but it's all in romaji. I think that's somewhere in Hokkaido? I had a little chuckle to myself when I picture it as 何新 "what's new?" HAHAHA but alas no.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - bodhisamaya - 2009-09-07
Have you seen the size of Samoans? How are they going to fit those massive spam eating bodies into a tiny Hyundai? Samoans love their spam... Really, it's true :o
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - Tzadeck - 2009-09-08
I like driving on the right side of the road way better (if you're right handed). If your steering-wheel is on the left side of the car, while you are using your right foot for the breaks you can rest your left foot against the door. I've been driving on the left side for a long time now and I still hate that there's no good place to rest my leg.
That's the only real difference as far as I can tell. Everything else is exactly the same but backwards.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - Vaste - 2009-09-08
Wait, so Left Hand Traffic is called Right Hand Drive??
Also, I must say I've always found it terribly dangerous to cross streets in Japan (since they're driving on the "wrong" side of the street).
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-08
Tzadeck Wrote:I like driving on the right side of the road way better (if you're right handed). If your steering-wheel is on the left side of the car, while you are using your right foot for the breaks you can rest your left foot against the door. I've been driving on the left side for a long time now and I still hate that there's no good place to rest my leg.whatchoo talkin' bout? There's a little block to rest your foot on. Comfy as a mofo.
That's the only real difference as far as I can tell. Everything else is exactly the same but backwards.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - Tzadeck - 2009-09-08
mezbup Wrote:whatchoo talkin' bout? There's a little block to rest your foot on. Comfy as a mofo.That block is better than nothing, but it's totally insufficient. You just have way more options when there's a door there.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - Jarvik7 - 2009-09-08
When I read your post I get a mental picture of someone who has one leg much longer than the other.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-08
Hahaha. The block rocks. I'm glad I'm from a country that drives on the left... cos all the places in the world I wanna go drive on the left. Make things easier.
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - yukkuri_kame - 2009-09-08
bodhisamaya Wrote:Have you seen the size of Samoans? How are they going to fit those massive spam eating bodies into a tiny Hyundai? Samoans love their spam... Really, it's true :oAs do Hawaiians & Okinawans. Seems to be catching on with mainland Japanese as well...
Spam sushi anyone?
http://www.sptsb.com/Aloha1.jpg
Blech!!!
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - mezbup - 2009-09-08
yukkuri_kame Wrote:oh dang! that's just nasty.bodhisamaya Wrote:Have you seen the size of Samoans? How are they going to fit those massive spam eating bodies into a tiny Hyundai? Samoans love their spam... Really, it's true :oAs do Hawaiians & Okinawans. Seems to be catching on with mainland Japanese as well...
Spam sushi anyone?
http://www.sptsb.com/Aloha1.jpg
Blech!!!
Samoan move to Right Hand Drive - OsakaDan - 2009-09-14
There's been a fatal accident already.
' Wrote:Just five days after the Pacific nation switched to Australian-style driving on the left a major accident has been reported.
A bus driving on the wrong side of the road hit a 12-year-old boy who had been walking to meet his father at a nearby shop.
The only major problem reported to date had been a public transport meltdown.
Hundreds of people have been stranded en route to school and work daily due to a shortage of buses adjusted for left-side entry.
Only 18 buses have had their doors shifted so passengers don't have to get on and off in the middle of the road, and all other buses are banned.