Editing Transport in Samoa (section)

==Change from right-hand to left-hand traffic==
From 1900 [[Samoa]] had been a [[German Samoa|German colony]], and even after the [[Occupation of German Samoa|occupation by New Zealand in 1914]] it maintained the German practice of driving on the right-hand side of the road.<ref name="BBC Samoa">{{cite news | title =Samoan cars ready to switch sides| work =BBC News | date = 7 September 2009 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8240992.stm | access-date = 2009-09-07 | first=Nick | last=Bryant}}</ref><ref name="The Age">{{cite news | title =Samoans jittery over road switch| newspaper =The Age| date = 8 September 2009 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/world/samoans-jittery-over-road-switch-20090907-febz.html | access-date = 2009-09-08 | location=Melbourne | first1=Paul | last1=Chapman}}</ref>

A plan to move to driving on the left was first announced by the Samoan government in September 2007. Prime Minister [[Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi]] 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 origin.<ref name="Observer_Chaos">[http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6142&Itemid=62 Samoa Observer: Road switch chaos predicted] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709101203/http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6142&Itemid=62 |date=2014-07-09 }}, ''Samoa Observer'' March 26, 2009</ref> He aimed to reduce reliance on expensive, left-hand-drive imports from America.<ref name="Ap Samoa">{{cite news | title =Chaos predicted as Samoa changes driving side| agency =Associated Press | date = 7 September 2009 | url = https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHv9dCCKAr79WLVGpt2eyB2NJoFQD9AIDGM00| access-date = 2009-09-07}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

On 18 April 2008 Samoa's parliament passed the Road Transport Reform Act 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Samoan government defeats challenge to road switch plan|url=http://www.mvariety.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=10151&format=html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Samoan prime minister defends decision to switch driving to left side of the road|url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35367}}</ref> Tuisugaletaua Avea, the Minister of Transport, announced that the switch would come into effect at 6:00&nbsp;am on Monday, 7&nbsp;September 2009 - and that 7 and 8&nbsp;September 2009 would be public holidays, so that residents would be able to familiarise themselves with the new rules of the road.<ref>{{cite news|title=Samoa announces driving switch date|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10523412 | work=The New Zealand Herald | first=Cherelle|last=Jackson|date=25 July 2008}}</ref>

However 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 being vandalised.<ref name="reuters Samoa"/><ref name="BBC Samoa2">{{cite news | title =Samoa drivers brace for left turn| work =BBC News | date = 6 September 2009 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8236773.stm | access-date = 2009-09-07 | first=Michael | last=Dobie}}</ref> 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.<ref name="reuters Samoa">{{cite news | title =Outcry as Samoa motorists prepare to drive on left| work =Reuters | date = 7 September 2009 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5861QV20090907| access-date = 2009-09-07}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AFP Samoa">{{cite news | title =Samoan drivers set for shift to the left| publisher =AFP| date = 7 September 2009 | url = https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNzS4m_GXgqIwYLpJPTJfbGVqZfg| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110209183215/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNzS4m_GXgqIwYLpJPTJfbGVqZfg| url-status = dead| archive-date = February 9, 2011| access-date = 2009-09-07}}</ref>

In order to reduce accidents, the government widened roads, added new road markings, erected signs and installed speed humps.<ref name="Ap Samoa"/> The speed limit was also reduced from {{convert|35|to|25|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} and sales of alcohol were banned for three days.<ref name="AFP Samoa"/> 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.<ref name="Ap Samoa"/><ref name="AFP Samoa"/>

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.<ref name="BBC Samoa"/> Samoa thus became the first territory in over thirty years to change which side of the road is driven on, the previous most recent to change having been [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] (1978), [[South Yemen]] (1977), [[Ghana]] (1974) and [[Nigeria]] (1972).<ref name="BBC Samoa"/><ref name="Ap Samoa"/><ref name="reuters Samoa"/>