Get Left in Samoa

Travel warning: probably best to avoid Samoa around September 7th,and possibly for sometime thereafter. The government of Samoa plans to switch the country’s road rules on that day at 6AM from drive on the right, to drive on the left. And you thought the U.S. government was f’ed up, right? Apparently, the Samoans are hoping to cater to Aussie and Kiwi tourists, who are used to driving on the left, and also hope to buy or get for free some of their second hand cars as well. Fair enough, but the problem is that some villages are saying they do not plan to honor the switch. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25918978-12335,00.html

You can imagine the chaos that is likely to ensue. I also wonder what people who are already on the road, around say 5.45 AM on September 7th are supposed to do- start out in the right, and then watch the clock in order to move left at 6? Or perhaps no one is up by 6AM in Samoa? The Samoan government has declared a four day weekend to allow citizens to get used to the new rules- or perhaps to ensure that everyone will be out getting plastered the night before and will be sleeping in late on September 7th. I would honestly like to see Chicago suddenly declare that we too plan to start driving on the left on September 7th- only because a small part of me is an anarchist that would love to view- from afar, perhaps with binoculars or a telescope- the ensuing chaos. We'd market it as an attempt to attrack British tourists, but maybe we'd just encourage them to drive on the left, while the rest of us stay on the right. Just for shits and giggles mate.