Transport in Samoa - Change From Right-hand To Left-hand Traffic

Change From Right-hand To Left-hand Traffic

Samoa was a German colony until occupied by New Zealand at the beginning of the First World War, until September 2009 it maintained the German practice of driving on the right-hand side of the road. This practice had been in place for more than a century. The plan was first announced by the Samoan government in September 2007 and was confirmed on 18 April 2008 when Samoa's parliament passed the Road Transport Reform Act 2008. On 24 July 2008 Tuisugaletaua Avea, the Minister of Transport, announced that the switch would come into effect at 6:00 am on Monday, 7 September 2009. He also announced that the 7 and 8 September 2009 would be public holidays, so that residents would be able to familiarise themselves with the new rules of the road. Samoa thus become the first territory in nearly 40 years to change which side of the road is driven on, the most recent to change being Nigeria, Ghana and Yemen.

A new political party, the People's Party, had formed to try to block the change but was unsuccessful as was the People Against Switching Sides protest group which launched a last minute legal challenge against the decision. The decision was controversial with an estimated 18,000 people attending demonstrations against it in Apia in April 2008 and road signs reminding people of the change were 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 the wrong side of the road due to the change threatened to strike in protest of the change.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi said that the purpose of adopting left-hand traffic was to allow Samoans to use cheaper RHD vehicles sourced from Australia, New Zealand or Japan, and so that the large number of Samoans living in Australasia can drive on the same side of the road when they visit their country of origin. He aimed to reduce reliance on expensive, left-hand drive imports from America. 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 mph (56 km/h) to 25 mph (40 km/h) and sales of alcohol banned for three days. Prayers were said by the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa for an accident-free changeover and Samoa's Red Cross carried out a blood donation campaign in case of a surge of accidents.

The change came into force following a radio announcement at 5.50 local time (16.50 GMT) which halted traffic and an announcement at 6.00 (15.00 GMT) for traffic to switch from the right to the left side of the road.