Odd spot: Samoa planning switch to RHD vehicles

South Pacific nation Samoa plans to switch from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left as most of its visitors and migrants come from RHD markets like New Zealand and Australia. Located on the Samoan Islands archipelago, along with American Samoa, the Samoans have been using LHD vehicles ever since they were under German rule nearly a century ago.

The reasoning behind the switch is that a lot of Samoans get their cars from relatives living in nearby New Zealand and Australia where people drive on the left. The Prime Minister also stated that most Samoans migrate to New Zealand or Australia, and thus it will be easier for them to get jobs if they can already drive on the correct side of the road, reports Wards Auto.

The island's inhabitants aren't all as gung-ho as the Prime Minister though - some of them have set up an organization going by the name of People Against Switching Sides, or PASS. The group has filed a lawsuit opposing the change on grounds of unconstitutionality and life-endangerment. The switch is also set to have serious economic repercussions for the tiny island nation - most of the inhabitants' main non-residential asset will lose a great deal of its value.

Car manufacturers are currently waiting for the bill to become law before any action is undertaken to order RHD vehicles to Samoa, but it’s likely the laws will come into effect in late 2009. Last month a politician in Ireland came up with a similar idea but his proposal was deemed a waste of money and was eventually dropped.