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APIA, Samoa, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Samoa is preparing for a major travel switch, from driving on the right side of the road to the left.
The change is scheduled for 6 a.m. Monday, The Times of London reported. It will be marked by the pealing of church bells across the island nation.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has decreed a two-day holiday Sunday and Monday. The hope is that will keep some cars off the road, allowing drivers to get used to the change gradually.
The reasons for the change are economic. About 170,000 Samoans live in Australia and New Zealand -- almost as many as in Samoa. Officials hope those expatriates can ship cars from those countries to their relatives back home, saving money over the U.S.-made cars now imported to Samoa.
About one-third of the world's people live in countries where driving is on the left, including Britain and many of its former colonies. Napoleon made driving on the right standard for carts and carriages in much of continental Europe with his conquests in the early 19th century, and the traffic rules have lasted much longer than his empire or the horse-drawn cart.
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