Piers wrote:
> PS spare a thought for the Swedes, who on "H-day" in 1967 (?) switched from
> driving on the left to driving on the right. It must have been bad for the
> drivers - but even worse for the pedestrians.
It was in 1967, on Sept 3 I think. Actually everything went very well, with
practically no accidents caused by driving on the wrong (left, previously
right...) side. The switch had been prepared for at least a year, with special
road signs being designed, buses and trams being converted with the doors on
the other side etc, TV and radio programmes about the changeover etc.
Interestingly, cars have been left-hand drive in Sweden since the beginning, so
driving on the left was a bit inconvenient. This I think was one of the reasons
for the switch, along with the fact that most of the rest of Europe drive on
the right. Sweden has always been very much for following international
conventions, much more than other countries (at least when it doesn't suit the
Government to ignore them, which is happening a lot more recently; everybody is
kept to the rules except those in power who don't seem to care a damn...). Even
the stop signs are spelled "stop" when the Swedish spelling is "stopp",
slightly ridiculous if you ask me...
Jonas
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